QUEEN FACES NEW ANGUISH

CHARLES: Prince willing to speak to police over Saudi donor claims ANDREW: Calls grow for Duke of York to be stripped of his title

- John Twomey and Richard Palmer

THE Queen faced fresh turmoil yesterday as police launched a cash-for-honours probe into Prince Charles’ charity.

A day after the Duke of York’s sex abuse lawsuit bombshell, royal aides said that Charles was happy to answer Scotland Yard’s questions over claims that his one-time most trusted confidant offered to help a Saudi benefactor be knighted.

Piling more woes on Her Majesty, 95, calls grew for Prince Andrew to lose his dukedom. But despite the royal dramas, the Queen carried on with her duties yesterday – commenting on her frailty for the first time, during a Windsor Castle engagement. The Queen is expected to resist calls to strip her middle son of his last titles.

THE LETTER IN FULL...

THE letter at the centre of the cash-for-honours investigation was written to an aide of Sheikh Mahfouz on August 18, 2017. It was addressed to Busief Lamlum, of the Mahfouz Foundation, Pall Mall, London, headed, “In Confidence”. It reads:

Dear Busief, In the 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 that 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.