yes, but it is obviously also worth pointing out that for several decades there have been allegations and criticisms of so called cash for access, that in return for large donations people got access to prince charles. that is part of the world of royal charities. people said that prince charles skated too close to the edge. this is another allegation that that kind of thing has been going on and it is an embarrassment. mr fawcett has stepped down. what sort of investigations follow from this? for example, are the charities involved looking at their relationship? the prince s foundation is an umbrella group for a number of different charities and it at the moment is remarkably tight lipped about what is going on. i put a number of allegations to them late last night and got one single response about michael fawcett because there were allegations in the newspapers about other people connected to the charities too. so we don t quite know what the nature of the investigation is,
he was once one of prince charles closest aides, but now michael fawcett is facing questions about his conduct. good morning, mr fawcett. did you secure honours for cash? any comment on the allegations in the newspapers today? three years ago, he became chief executive of the prince s foundation, an umbrella group for a number of prince charles s charitable interests. newspaper reports allege that mr fawcett offered to assist a wealthy saudi national and major donor to the prince s foundation with citizenship and with an honour. mahfouz marei mubarak bin mahfouz received an honorary cbe in late 2016. one former government minister who s written books on royal finances wants a police investigation into the allegations. in 2013, mr fawcett resigned from a previous job with the royal family after an internal report criticised the running of the royal household. in 2003. now, michael fawcett s been forced to resign twice already, and both times, under cover of darkness, almost, he was r
michael fawcett is accused of helping a saudi businessman receive an honourary cbe. here s our royal correspondent, jonny dymond. for decades, michael fawcett was the aide with the answers to the prince s problems. mr fawcett, did you secure honopurs for cash? any comment on the allegations in the newspapers this morning? is the sunday times story true? this morning he wasn t taking questions. he s accused of promising to help this wealthy saudi businessman mahfouz marei mubarak bin mahfouz to get british citizenship and an honour in exchange for donations to the prince s charities. he was the prince s valet until 2003 but he was more than just a servant. a controversial figure at the palace, he won the loyalty of prince charles. twice he left the prince. twice he came back. until yesterday, the chief executive of the prince s foundation.
but it is the proximity and the friendship with the prince that is so damaging and makes this rather different from other suggestions of what s been called cash for access that have been made in the past. in a sense, if this were a political party we were talking about this would be a major constitutional row brewing and a big political scandal. this is a difficulty. it is difficult to say where it sits on the embarrassment scale but this is a real difficulty. this is not what people expect of the royal family. obviously they are allegations, they re being investigated and the palace, as i say, says, look, michael fawcett doesn t work for the prince. and there is no suggestion in the story that the prince was aware of a transactional relationship between, if you give the money you get the honour. absolutely not. in that sense, this is about somebody who has worked for him and been close to him for a long time and not about the man himself.
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We now take you back to the heady days of 2016, when it seemed for a brief, shining moment that an era of shameless political fundraising in Canada was on the wane.
In May of that year, Kathleen Wynne, then the Liberal premier of Ontario, announced that her government would end the practice of selling private access to cabinet ministers and the premier in return for five-figure donations from individuals, corporations and unions.