Jonathan Dimbleby compares ‘cash for honours’ scandal to PM’s Jimmy Savile slurs against Starmer 

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Prince Charles‘ friend and biographer Jonathan Dimbleby today insisted that it is ‘extraordinarily unlikely’ the royal knew about the alleged ‘cash for honours’ scandal, comparing it to ‘smears’ that Sir Keir Starmer personally failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

Mr Dimbleby, whose friendship with Charles goes back decades, has insisted the Prince of Wales would have no idea one of his charities may have been helping a Saudi billionaire get a knighthood and British citizenship.

And in an extraordinary interview he said it was ‘bizarre’ to compare the scandal to Prince Andrew‘s decision to pay off Virginia Roberts Giuffre, in an interview with the Today programme branded a ‘disgrace’ by some listeners. 

The police probe follows the revelation that Charles’ once closest aide Michael Fawcett allegedly offered to help Saudi billionaire Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz upgrade his honorary CBE to a knighthood – and support his application for British citizenship – in exchange for ‘generous’ donations to Charles’ charitable foundation. 

Mr Dimbleby, a friend and confident to Charles, defended him today – hours after it emerged the Queen’s eldest son faces being interviewed by police. He also dismissed claims by Ex-Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker, who filed a criminal complaint about the matter last year, that he found it ‘difficult to understand’ how Charles could have been completely ignorant of the affair.

He said: ‘That’s a very colourful thing to say. Inconceivable suggests there is no possibility other than that he knew. I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely that he knew. I think if he had know he would have immediately taken action on it. He believes in the honours system. Many thousands of people have been given investitures by him on behalf of a system that he understands and knows well. If there had been some scam, some breaking of the law, you honestly think that he would have been party to that? It beggars belief’.

The journalist then went on to draw parallels with the Prime Minister’s false claim that he personally failed to prosecute paedophile Jimmy Savile. 

He said of Keir Starmer: ‘People were rightly outraged when he was smeared for allegedly not investigating Jimmy Saville, now he was dpp [Director of Public Prosecutions]. He was the chief executive of a large organisation. The Prince of Wales is not in that position. He’s someone outside of that organisation who deeply believes and cares in its work – but is not party to its day-to-day operation’.  He added: ‘It seems bizarre that we should be giving it such attention. The idea that this is an example of an annus horribilus because its linked to his brother’s case, seems frankly bizarre’.  

Mr Dimbleby’s appearance on the Today programme was met with incredulity by some listeners. 

One said: ‘Crikey, I am a huge royalist but honestly Jonathan Dimbleby’s defence of Clarence House is simply over the top’. Another wrote: ‘Jonathan Dimbleby’s eulogy on the Prince of Wales on the Today programme just now nothing short of a disgrace, calling any investigation into his affairs frankly bizarre’.

One Twitter user said: ‘Jonathan Dimbleby going full throttle for a knighthood there’. 

The bombshell of Charles potentially facing a police interview came less than 24 hours after the abject humiliation of Prince Andrew having to pay to resolve a sexual abuse lawsuit. 

Last night, royal sources were quick to insist the Prince of Wales had no knowledge of any alleged deal – and emphasised he would be willing to speak to detectives and help with their inquiry in ‘whatever way’ he could.

But the dramatic development threatens to drag Charles into a damaging saga in the lead- up to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations later this year.

The prince – who presented Mr Mahfouz with his honorary CBE title in a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace and held private meetings with the billionaire at a string of British embassies – is likely to be asked by police what he knew of the claims against Mr Fawcett.

News of the probe came only a day after it emerged that Prince Andrew had agreed to pay as much as £12 million to settle a sexual abuse lawsuit brought by Virginia Roberts.

Royal sources last night told of ‘genuine shock’ in Buckingham Palace that the cash-for-honours probe had come ‘on top of the Andrew fall-out’, with one predicting: ‘I can only see this getting worse.’

The developments came as the Queen made her first public appearance since last week’s Covid scare – where she appeared to remark on her own frailty. 

Welcoming the incoming Defence Services Secretary to Windsor Castle, the 95-year-old monarch – standing with a walking stick – pointed to her foot and said: ‘As you can see, I can’t move.’

Insiders were quick to stress there had been, as yet, no formal request by the police to Charles for assistance in the cash-for-honours case, but suggested he would be willing to help with the investigation – including submitting to a formal interview.

A source added: ‘He would be happy to help in whatever way.’

Charles is currently recovering from Covid but is poised to resume official engagements today presenting the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for higher and further education at St James’s Palace.

For the best part of four decades, Mr Fawcett was the man Charles famously could not live without. The 59-year-old former valet rose to become one of the most powerful and influential figures in the future king’s court.

But he was dogged by controversy and was twice forced to resign after being accused of bullying staff and selling unwanted royal gifts. On both occasions he was reinstated and was later awarded a lucrative contract by the prince to organise most of his official and private entertaining.

In 2007, Mr Fawcett was made chief executive of Scotland’s Dumfries House, a stately home the prince helped save for the nation.

Then in 2018, following a reorganisation of Charles’s charities, Mr Fawcett became the £95,000-a-year chief executive of the newly created The Prince’s Foundation – to the concern of some household staff. 

The cash-for-honours allegations centre around the conduct of Mr Fawcett and Mr Mahfouz’s donations to restoration projects of particular interest to Prince Charles.

The billionaire, who denies any wrongdoing, has given more than £1.5 million to The Prince’s Foundation, spent mostly on renovating two of Charles’s Scottish properties, where parts of the grounds are named after him.

Last September, a letter emerged that Mr Fawcett had written to Mr Mahfouz’s aide in 2017, in which he said: ‘In light of the ongoing and most recent generosity of His Excellency Sheikh Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, I am happy to confirm to you, in confidence, that we are willing and happy to support and contribute to the application for citizenship.

‘I can further confirm we are willing to make an application to increase His Excellency’s honour from Honorary CBE to that of KBE in accordance with Her Majesty’s Honours Committee.’ 

Mr Fawcett was forced to resign from the foundation over the revelations reported in The Mail on Sunday.

At the time of the claims, Prince Harry revealed he had cut links with Mr Mahfouz in 2015 because of ‘concerns over his motives’. 

In December, a probe by auditing firm Ernst & Young into fundraising practices found there was some evidence of communication between Mr Fawcett and ‘fixers’ regarding honorary nominations for a donor between 2014 and 2018.

A spokesman for The Prince’s Foundation said: ‘It would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing investigation.’

A spokesman for Mr Mahfouz said he had ‘not had personal or direct communication to either request, influence or make any arrangements regarding citizenship or knighthood with Mr Fawcett, or anyone connected to HRH The Prince of Wales or the Prince’s Foundation’.