Prince Harry Gets Apology After Group’s ‘Widely Publicized Untrue Claims’

A new report by the U.K.’s Charity Commission published Tuesday has cleared Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s charities of alleged wrongdoing and prompted an apology from the anti-monarchy group Republic.

The Charity Commission, a government department that regulates and registers charities in England and Wales, looked into allegations of misuse of funds after Republic publicly voiced concerns last July.

The commission scrutinized two transfers of funds from the Cambridges’ Royal Foundation to the Sussexes’ MWX Foundation (formerly known as Sussex Royal and currently in the process of winding down). Some funds from the Royal Foundation were then transferred from the MWX Foundation to Harry’s sustainable travel endeavor, Travalyst.

According to the commission’s report, all transfers were “in line with the governing document of the Royal Foundation and allowed under charity law.” The commission also found the additional transfer from MWX to Travalyst to be lawful, though it noted that “decisions on spending were not adequately documented” and thus not indicative of a “best practice.”

Helen Earner, director of regulatory services at the Charity Commission, reiterated in a statement “that the trustees complied with their duties under charity law, and the transfers of funds between different organizations were in keeping with the charities’ governing documents, with conflicts of interest being appropriately managed.” 

Republic issued a lengthy apology to the Duke of Sussex and Sussex Royal on its website Tuesday, alongside a reprinting of the full Charity Commission report. 

“On 20 July 2020 we falsely claimed that the transfer of funds from the Royal Foundation to Sussex Royal and to Travalyst was improper and likely to be unlawful,” the group said. “We also wrote to the Charity Commission expressing the same points and then widely publicized our letter to the U.K. media without knowing whether what we claimed was true. Our intention was to draw attention to the allegations.” 

In its apology, Republic admitted its failure to contact The Royal Foundation and Sussex Royal before raising its allegations publicly with the media and the Charity Commission. 

“If we had contacted the organizations directly, we accept we would have realized quickly that there was nothing improper in their operations,” the group added. “We apologize unreservedly to the charities and personally to The Duke of Sussex for our actions and the public damage that has been caused as a result of widely publicized untrue claims.”

A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared a statement with HuffPost on Tuesday, saying “We are pleased that the Charity Commission has confirmed what we knew from the start: that MWX Foundation, formerly Sussex Royal, complied fully with UK charity law in its handling and transferring of funds and grants.”

The statement added: “Today’s update provides complete closure to this review and ultimately underscores both the legitimacy of the former charity and the baselessness of the claims against it.” 

Kensington Palace did not reply to HuffPost’s request for comment.