The Prince's Foundation
Educational charity set up by Charles, registered in Scotland, now the King's Foundation
- Entries
- 15
- On the record
- 1
- Stories
- 1
- Latest entry
- Jan 7, 2025
The record
The Prince's Foundation is the charity Charles founded as Prince of Wales in 1990. It grew out of his Institute of Architecture and took its current form in 2018, when four organizations merged under the Prince's Foundation name. It is registered in Scotland as charity SC038770, with its registered office at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, and it changed its name to The King's Foundation in December 2023, after Charles became King. It says its education programs support 15,000 students a year.
Its regulatory record centers on one inquiry. The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) opened it on September 9, 2021, after press reports about transactions with a former trustee and about the then chief executive, Michael Fawcett. The scope widened to loaned artwork whose insurance had lapsed in 2017 and to payments routed to his events company. OSCR's January 2025 report found that historical governance had not always met the required standard, but found no misconduct by any trustee or by the former chief executive.
A police inquiry ran in parallel from February 2022 to August 2023. Metropolitan Police officers interviewed two men under caution in September 2022 about suspected offenses under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925, then took no further action, and no one was charged. Separately, the Charity Commission for England and Wales found that £200,000 a donor had given for the foundation was diverted to another charity through The Mahfouz Foundation, whose trustees it held responsible for misconduct and/or mismanagement.
Roles and honours on the record
- 1990-present Charity founded by Charles, then Prince of Wales, beginning as the Institute of Architecture source
- 2018 Formed as The Prince's Foundation when four organizations merged source
- 2019-present Trustee of the Queen Elizabeth Castle of Mey Trust, and custodian of Highgrove Gardens since 2021 source
- as of 2025 Registered Scottish charity SC038770 and company SC331738, registered office at Dumfries House, Cumnock, Ayrshire source
Every entry, newest first
- Ruled
Scottish charity regulator found no evidence of misconduct by trustees or Fawcett; called his failure to brief colleagues 'unacceptable'. Michael Fawcett cash-for-honours: £1.5M donor, nobody charged
- Reported
Met Police said it had launched an investigation into alleged offences under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925. Michael Fawcett cash-for-honours: £1.5M donor, nobody charged
- Reported
EY summary report found evidence of co-ordination between then CEO and 'fixers' over honours, and no evidence trustees knew. Michael Fawcett cash-for-honours: £1.5M donor, nobody charged
Stories in this file
The record, entry by entry
- 1990 Official Charles, then Prince of Wales, founded the Institute of Architecture, the body from which the foundation dates its history. The Poundbury development followed in 1992. The King's Foundation, 35th anniversary timeline
- 2007 Official Charles, then Prince of Wales, saved Dumfries House in Ayrshire and its contents for the nation, according to the foundation's own timeline. The King's Foundation, 35th anniversary timeline
- 2016 Official The charity accepted loaned artwork from a donor. OSCR later found that the insurance lapsed in 2017 and that the board was not told until an external review in November 2019, a position it called wholly unacceptable. OSCR, inquiry report on The King's Foundation (SC038770)
- 2020-05 Official £100,000 from a donor reached the foundation through The Mahfouz Foundation's bank account on May 11-13, 2020, and was returned on September 24, 2020, the Charity Commission found. Charity Commission for England and Wales, inquiry report on The Mahfouz Foundation
- 2020-09-25 Official The Mahfouz Foundation sent £200,000 to Children and the Arts under an arrangement the foundation's then chief executive, Michael Fawcett, made with a third party. The Charity Commission found this misapplied funds restricted for the foundation; its findings were against The Mahfouz Foundation's trustees, who received an official warning on October 5, 2023. Charity Commission for England and Wales, inquiry report on The Mahfouz Foundation
- 2020-12 Official Repayment was completed of charity money that had reached Fawcett's personal events company through a third-party company, against a prior board agreement. OSCR accepted the payments may have reflected genuine work but said they were inappropriate without formal agreements. OSCR, inquiry report on The King's Foundation (SC038770)
- 2021-09-09 Official OSCR opened its inquiry, following media reports published between May and September 2021 and a notifiable event the charity itself submitted in May 2021. OSCR, inquiry report on The King's Foundation (SC038770)
- 2021-11 Reported A foundation spokesperson said Fawcett had resigned as chief executive. He had stepped back temporarily in September 2021 while OSCR's inquiry ran, Civil Society reported. Civil Society News report
- 2022-09-06 Reported Metropolitan Police officers interviewed two men, one in his 50s and one in his 40s, under caution about suspected offenses under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925, Reuters reported. A spokesperson for Charles had said he had no knowledge of any offer of honors or citizenship for donations. Reuters report via NBC News
- 2023-08 Reported The Met said it would take no further action after reviewing more than 200 documents. A file had gone to the Crown Prosecution Service for early investigative advice on October 31, 2022, and no one was charged. UK Fundraising report
- 2023-12-13 Official The charity changed its name from The Prince's Foundation to The King's Foundation, the Charity Commission recorded. Charity Commission for England and Wales, inquiry report on The Mahfouz Foundation
- 2025-01-07 Official OSCR published its report. It found historical decision-making and record-keeping inadequate but no evidence of misconduct by any former or current trustee, and it did not consider the former chief executive's conduct to be misconduct. It had closed its review of current governance on September 28, 2023. OSCR, inquiry report on The King's Foundation (SC038770)
Documents
- OSCR inquiry report, The King's Foundation SC038770 (Jan. 7, 2025)
- OSCR announcement of the inquiry report (Jan. 7, 2025)
- Charity Commission inquiry report, The Mahfouz Foundation (Sep. 5, 2024)
- The King's Foundation trustees' statements on the OSCR inquiry (2023-2025)
- Royal Household, The King marks 35 years of The King's Foundation (Jan. 15, 2025)