Saturday, October 12, 2024

King Charles and Royals Fail to Reveal Official Gifts for Past Four Years – Despite Promise to Do So

THE GUARDIAN: Royal family had pledged to declare all presents received in an annual list, after several controversies

King Charles III during a visit to the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh last month. Photograph: Getty Images | A screenshot from today’s Guardian.

King Charles and his family have failed to reveal their official gifts for the past four years, despite previously promising to publish an annual list.

Palace officials have blamed the pandemic, the change of reign, and then planning for last year’s coronation for their inability to publish details of the gifts received by members of the royal family.

The royal family’s reticence follows controversy over a cash-for-honours scandal involving the king’s main charitable foundation, which led to a police investigation that was dropped last year without a full explanation from either Scotland Yard or the Crown Prosecution Service. It also comes after revelations that Charles, when he was Prince of Wales, accepted £2.6m in cash in bags from a Qatari politician for another of his charities, the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund. » | Richard Palmer | Saturday, October 12, 2024