Prince Charles took £1 million from family of September 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden

Prince Charles reportedly agreed to take a massive payment from the half-brothers of September 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Prince Charles agreed to take £1 million ($1.7 million) from the family of September 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden for his charity — despite objections from his advisers at Clarence House.

The future king, 73, is understood to have accepted the payment for the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation from Bakr bin Laden, head of the family, and his brother Shafiq, The Sunday Times reported.

The pair are half-brothers of Osama bin Laden and the agreement reportedly came in October 2013, two years after the terrorist was shot dead during a special operation by US forces in Pakistan.

Prince Charles arrives at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. Picture: AFP

A member of staff at Clarence House is understood to have warned that if the payment made into Prince Charles’s Coutts bank account became public knowledge, it would cause outrage.

The charity reportedly pleaded with Prince Charles to return the payment to the Bin Laden brothers, The Sunday Times reported.

Prince Charles was also reportedly told that “it would not be good for anybody” if it became known that he had accepted the payment from the family of the man behind the infamous terror attack, while another warned of huge reputational damage.

The donation came two years after the death of Osama Bin Laden.

A source told The Times: “The fact that a member of the highest level of the British establishment was choosing to broker deals with a name and a family that not only rang alarm bells, but abject horror around the world... why would you do this? What good reason is there to do this?

“I just didn’t feel any member of the British royal family should be involved in that sort of undertaking.’

The Prince of Wales meets with local community groups at the Seafarers Memorial Group in Wick, in Scotland, on July 29. Picture: AFP

Prince Charles reportedly refused to hand the money back to the family on the basis that it was too embarrassing and they would suspect the reasoning behind it.

Bakr and Shafiq bin Laden have not been linked to any terrorist activity.

Sir Ian Cheshire, the chairman of the Prince of Wales Charitable Fund, told The Sunday Times that the donation was agreed to “wholly” by the organisation’s five trustees.

“The donation from Sheik Bakr Bin Laden in 2013 was carefully considered by PWCF Trustees at the time. Due diligence was conducted, with information sought from a wide range of sources, including government. The decision to accept the donation was taken wholly by the trustees. Any attempt to suggest otherwise is misleading and inaccurate,” Chesire told the paper.

A spokeswoman for Clarence House told The Sunday Times the charity “has assured us that thorough due diligence was undertaken in accepting this donation. The decision to accept was taken by the charity’s trustees alone and any attempt to characterise it otherwise is false.”

Prince Charles was reported to have received other questionable donations to his charity from a controversial Qatari politician with the cash delivered from 2011 to 2015 in duffel bags, a suitcase, and several branded shopping bags from the famed Fortnum & Mason department store.

— with New York Post