Buckingham Palace Feared King Charles Could Face Prosecution

King Charles III's monarchy asked the Welsh government to ensure new laws would not leave him vulnerable to being prosecuted, according to reports.

Bills that affect the royals are flagged with the palace in advance, giving them the opportunity to object to anything they think may adversely affect them, under a rule known as "royal consent."

The Welsh government told Buckingham Palace of plans to reform agriculture and received a response on June 1, 2023, according to The Guardian.

The newspaper quotes an internal memo stating Welsh government lawyers "had been contacted by Buckingham Palace officials who have sought an assurance that Welsh ministers will take into account conventions regarding prosecuting the Crown when making regulations under this bill."

The monarch in Britain by convention is viewed as exempt from prosecution because criminal charges are brought in the name of the Crown, which is considered incapable of prosecuting itself and therefore cannot bring charges against the king.

However, specific exemptions have also been written into numerous British laws offering special treatment to the royals which extends as far as preventing the police from entering private estates like Sandringham, in the East of England, and Balmoral, in Scotland, without the king's permission to investigate environmental crimes.

A day after the June 1 memo, officials in Wales put on record concerns raised by their government's counsel general that he was "not happy with the exclusion" but "recognizes the ongoing convention."

The Welsh government therefore agreed to the assurance requested by the palace, suggesting the king continues to be exempt from prosecution under the new agricultural law.

While the prospect of the king being prosecuted for a criminal offence may seem remote, the Metropolitan Police only recently terminated an investigation into one of his charities, The King's Foundation, without charging anyone.

The change in Welsh law would not have had any impact, but the saga does demonstrate criminal investigations can wind up close to home even for a king.

Michael Fawcett, former chief executive, was accused of offering to help a tycoon pursue British citizenship and an honor in exchange for charity donations.

He resigned, though he was not prosecuted, while a regulation by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator [OSCR] is still investigating the saga.

A letter written by Fawcett to an aide to Saudi tycoon Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, read: "We are willing and happy to support and contribute to the application for Citizenship" and "are willing to make [an] application to increase His Excellency's honor from Honorary CBE to that of KBE."

He added that the move was "in response to the most recent and anticipated support of the Trust and in connection with his ongoing commitment generally within the United Kingdom."

The King's Foundation, then known as The Prince's Foundation, conducted an internal investigation which found in December 2021: "With respect to the allegation of securing honors for a donor in exchange for donations, there is evidence that communication and co-ordination took place between the CEO at the time and so-called 'fixers' regarding honorary nominations for a donor between 2014-18.

"There is no evidence that trustees at the time were aware of these communications."

The palace has always maintained the king did not know about Fawcett's letter.

Jack Royston is Newsweek's chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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