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.
so, prince charles is very, very closely linked with this man, and i m sure that whatever michael fawcett did would have been done with the full support of prince charles. prince charles needs to answer questions about this, not michael fawcett. the met says it s aware of media reports. the prince s foundation, based at dumfries house, offers education and training programmes to more than 15,000 people each year, helping them to find work or start their own businesses. in a statement, it said. it added that mr fawcett will assist the investigation in every way. a spokesman for dr bin mahfouz said he had not expected any reward for his charitable donations. simon jones, bbc news. earlier i spoke to our royal correspondent, jonny dymond. he said the allegations
today, a former minister said there were questions to answer. well, michael fawcett has been forced to resign twice already. and both times under cover of darkness, almost he was reinstated by prince charles when the hoo ha had died down. so prince charles is very, very closely linked with this man and i m sure that whatever michael fawcett did would have been done with the full support of prince charles. prince charles needs to answer questions about this, not michael fawcett. the foundation said it takes very seriously the allegations that had recently been brought to its attention and the matter is currently under investigation. mr bin mahfouz said he expected no reward for his charitable donations. a source close to the prince told the bbc that prince charles was not aware of any link between donations to his charities and honours or british citizenship. michael fawcett has temporarily stepped down from his position. jonny dymond, bbc news.