The Prince's Foundation

The Prince's Foundation (formerly The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture until 2001, The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment until 2012, and The Prince's Foundation for Building Community until 2018) is an educational charity established in 1986 by Charles, Prince of Wales to teach and demonstrate in practice those principles of traditional urban design and architecture which put people and the communities of which they are part at the centre of the design process.

The foundation has involved over 8000 people in designing a hundred projects which includes university campuses, new towns and numerous buildings including the redeveloped Alder Hey Children's Hospital which opened in 2015. Additionally the projects have created thousands of job in the United Kingdom.[1]

Structure

The Prince's Foundation is part of The Prince's Charities, a group of not-for-profit organizations of which The Prince of Wales is President: 17 of the 19 charities were founded personally by The Prince. In 2007 the charity received a donation of £332,408 from The Prince's Charities Foundation.

Perspectives

Perspectives on Architecture magazine was funded by the Institute of Architecture and published from April 1994 until March 1998. It reflected the aims of the Institute but was editorially independent, with the editor for the first five issues being Dan Cruickshank, followed by Giles Worsley. The first Premier issue was launched on 15 March 1994 with a cover date of April 1994 and a print run of 75,000[2] although later that year sales were well below the breakeven target of 35,000 a month.[3]

The magazine was published jointly by Peter Murray's Wordsearch Ltd and Perfect Harmony Ltd, the later being a company bought and established in 1993 as the publishing arm of the Institute of Architecture. The magazine was issued monthly (excluding December) until March 1996, when it became bi-monthly, starting with the April/May issue. It ceased publication in 1998 after four years and 33 issues, with its February/March issue being the last.

In his first editorial, Cruickshank wrote that 'Perspectives is concerned with the care and conservation of the best aspects of our built history and the countryside, and with the protection of the landscape, but it is also committed to the evolution of a new architecture which combines temporary technology with the inspirational ideas offered by traditional buildings ... The reconciliation of the old and the new, united with a concern for relating new buildings to their settings, will restore delight to our view of the world. Perspectives will campaign for beauty and inspiration and a recovery of that spiritual sense of the numinous that only great architecture or great works of art can offer.'[4]

Future role

After the Government announced in 2010 that it would withdraw funding for CABE (successor body to the Royal Fine Arts Commission, est. 1924), the Prince offered that PFBE could take over its role as arbiter of design in major planning applications. Modernist architects expressed dismay at the suggestion.[5]

Cash for access allegations

In August 2021, it was announced that the foundation was launching an investigation into the reports that middlemen took cuts for setting up dinners involving wealthy donors and Prince Charles, with prices as high as £100,000 and the fixers taking up to 25% of the fees.[6] An overnight stay at the Scottish mansion Dumfries House was also being offered.[6] In the following month it was alleged that the prince's aide Michael Fawcett had fixed a CBE for Saudi businessman Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz who donated more than £1.5 million to royal charities contrary to section 1 of the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.[7] Charles gave Mahfouz his Honorary CBE at a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace in November 2016, though the event was not published in the Court Circular.[8] The allegations led to Fawcett temporarily stepping down from his role as chief executive of The Prince's Foundation, while Republic reported the prince and Fawcett to the police.[9] The foundation's chairman Douglas Connell also quit his job over claims the charity had accepted "a six-figure sum from a Russian donor", with the prince thanking the businessman in a letter and suggesting a meeting. This led to an investigation by the Scottish Charity Regulator.[10] Clarence House responded that Charles had "no knowledge of the alleged offer of honours or British citizenship on the basis of donation to his charities and fully supports the investigation".[11]

In October 2021, additional questions were raised over contributions by Taiwanese fugitive Bruno Wang, who donated £500,000 to the foundation.[12] In the following month, Fawcett resigned from his role as chief executive of The Prince's Foundation,[13] and the Charity Commission launched an investigation into allegations that the donations meant for The Prince's Foundation had been instead sent to the Mahfouz Foundation.[14] The auditing firm EY, which was hired by the charity to carry out an investigation, published a summary report in December 2021, stating that Fawcett had co-ordinated with "fixers", but there was "no evidence that trustees at the time were aware of these communications".[15]

See also

References
  1. "The Prince of Wales receives 'Londoner of the Decade' award at The Evening Standard's Progress 1000 Awards". princeofwales.gov.uk. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  2. Jonathan Glancey, Prince finds the common ground on architecture, The Independent, 16 March 1994, page 17
  3. Sandra Barwick, Cracks in the harmony thingy, The Independent, 13 August 1994
  4. The Sesquipedalist on Perspectives, 27 January 2009; also in the Architects' Journal, 27 November 2008.
  5. Robert Booth, Prince Charles offers to take on key architectural planning role, The Guardian, 28 October 2010
  6. Quinn, Ben (29 August 2021). "Prince of Wales charity launches inquiry into 'cash for access' claims". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  7. "Prince Charles's aide steps down following claims he offered to help secure an honour for rich Saudi donor". Sky News. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  8. "Prince Charles aides fixed CBE for Saudi tycoon who gave £1.5m". The Times. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  9. "Prince Charles and close aide reported to police by pressure group Republic over cash-for-honours claims". Sky News. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  10. "Prince's Foundation chairman Douglas Connell quits over claims charity accepted six-figure sum from Russian donor". Sky News. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  11. Foster, Max; Said-Moorhouse, Lauren (6 September 2021). "Former aide to Prince Charles steps down over cash-for-honors scandal". CNN. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  12. Grierson, Jamie. "Prince Charles 'cash-for-honours' scandal grows with fresh allegations". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  13. Holden, Michael (12 November 2021). "UK Prince Charles's right-hand man quits charity role after honours report". Reuters. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  14. Butler, Patrick (18 November 2021). "Inquiry into foundation linked to Prince of Wales launched". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  15. Ricketts, Andy (3 December 2021). "Former Prince's Foundation chief 'co-ordinated with fixers' over honours for donor, probe finds". Third Sector. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
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