In 2021 a Sunday Times report claimed that a CBE awarded by Charles Windsor, then the first in line to be Britain’s head of state on the death of his mother, seemed to have been paid for by a donation to a Windsor foundation. The CBE was given to Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, Such “cash for honours” deals are illegal.
The honour was bestowed on Mr Mahfouz by Windsor in a private ceremony that was not reported in the official record of royal engagements. Charlie has said that he did not know of the “cash for honours” deal.
Mahfouz was helped in his pursuit of the honour by Michael Fawcett, described by the Sunday Times as a “confidante” of Windsor.
According to emails disclosed by the newspaper, a seven figure amount was donated to the Windsor foundation that looks after his Dumfries country estate in Scotland in order to ease the path to the award.
The Sunday times reported that in September 2021 the apparent crime had been reported to the Metropolitan Police but for six months there was no sign of action from that police force. When the Sunday Times reporter contacted them he was told that they were making “an initial assessment” of the evidence.
“And then something strange happened. That is, nothing much at all”. Sunday Times
It was this police force that insisted that we should all feel “joy” on a Windsor wedding day. And that went to the Supreme Court to insist on its right to put republicans in preventative custody without charge to stop them expressing their opposition to monarchy. So if it is not fear of the powerful that drives the police it must surely be monarchist loyalty.
The police did not start investigating until February 2022 but even then their investigation did not include interviews with Windsor or Mahhouz. They told the Sunday Times that the were waiting for advice from the appropriately named Crown Prosecution Service. (CPS). The CPS told the newspaper that that was not so.
When the Sunday Times made freedom of information requests the police failed to respond. When asked again their response was that they were reviewing how they had handled the first request.
Still there have been no arrests, no prosecution, not even an effective investigation.
All of which seems to confirm that in addition to all the other extraordinary privileges allowed to the Windsor family, they and their associates are above the law.