PROPERTY FIRM UNDER SCANNER FOR BUYING PRINCE CHARLES’ ECO-VILLAGE IN SCOTLAND

Sun 03 July 2022:

A UK real estate firm is being investigated for purchasing homes on an estate in Ayrshire from a subsidiary of the Prince’s Foundation.

The Knockroon development in Scotland, which Prince Charles initially acquired as a plot of farmland when he bought the adjoining estate, Dumfries House, has reportedly seen the purchase of 11 homes by Havisham Properties, according to The Guardian.

The homes, which were purchased for £1.7 million between 2012 and 2017, were initially supposed to be an eco-village designed to draw employment and revitalize the formerly mining community.

A spokesman for the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator told the British newspaper, “We can confirm that the work of Havisham Group and property transactions relating to the Knockroon development in Ayrshire forms part of our overall investigation, work on which is ongoing.”

The probe follows a report published in the Sunday Times that Prince Charles ennobled the businessman and owner of Havisham Properties, Lord Brownlow, in lieu of accepting millions of pounds in donations from him.

It is being claimed that Brownlow, who in 2013 was appointed as a trustee of the Prince’s Foundation that manages Dumfries House, helped bail Prince Charles out of the failed eco-village project after only 31 out of 770 homes were built due to a lack of demand.

It was reported that the prince hoped the project would help pay off the £20m loan he took out to buy Dumfries House.

When Brownlow finished buying the undesirable homes and resigned as a trustee in 2018, he received a royal honor at Buckingham Palace.

Following outrage over rumors that he personally received €3 million in cash from a billionaire Qatari sheikh, reports indicate the Prince of Wales will no again accept significant cash donations for his charities. According to reports, the cash was delivered in a carrying bag from Fortnum & Mason, a holdall, and a tiny suitcase.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister from 2007 to 2013, donated the funds to the Prince of Wales’ Charitable Fund.

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