Charity begins at home loan for Prince Charles

THE Prince of Wales gambled the future of his charitable foundation on a speculative property deal that is now draining funds away from other good causes.

LONDON: The Prince of Wales gambled the future of his charitable foundation on a speculative property deal that is now draining funds away from other good causes. A senior aide admitted yesterday that the deal had "partially gone wrong".

A pound stg. 20 million ($33.4m) loan taken out in 2007 to help save Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland, for the nation has left the Prince's Charities Foundation in the position of a homeowner with negative equity, and the heir to the throne as a victim of the crash in development land prices.

The disclosure casts light on his role as Britain's leading "charitable entrepreneur", in which he has tried to support a vast philanthropic network through a series of often loss-making businesses.

Although there is no question about the personal integrity of Charles or his advisers, an investigation by The Times into the pound stg. 43m purchase of Dumfries House shows it has saddled the foundation, supposed to channel money into his charities, with a multi-million-pound debt.

The security for the loan was supposed to be land on which Charles wants to build a model community, but the value of this greenfield site has since collapsed to less than pound stg. 9m.

After a series of conversations and meetings with The Times, it is now clear that some officials privately recognise the deal could be regarded as foolhardy. At Clarence House, there is a degree of gallows humour, with a joke overheard that the Charles might have been advised: "Never buy a pound stg. 43m house without looking at it first."

Michael Peat, Charles's principal private secretary, said yesterday: "The risk has partially gone wrong. We were a little unlucky. We did not spot the crash in development land prices."

The Times