Meghan Markle and Prince Harry criticised after using £300,000 to start Sussex Royal foundation but quit 12 months later

MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry have been criticised for spending £300,000 to start their Sussex Royal foundation only to quit 12 months later.

The organisation spent half the money on legal and admin fees setting it up and closing it down.

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Sussex Royal foundation did not breach charity law, a review has foundCredit: Getty Images – Getty
A review into the couple’s charity revealed William and Kate’s Royal Foundation made two grants totalling nearly £290,000 to Harry and Meghan’s non-profit organisation Sussex Royal.

Later, £145,000 of this was paid to Travalyst, a private company in which Harry owns 75 per cent of the shares.

But after the review, the Charity Commission found that the transfer of funds to MWX – which was formerly Sussex Royal: The Foundation – was in line with the governing document of the Royal Foundation and allowed under charity law.

However, it did warn founders should “consider carefully whether a new charity is the best way of achieving the intended aims” after “substantial proportion of funds” were spent setting up and closing down the foundation.

The review said: “In this case we have found that the trustees complied with their duties under charity law, and the transfers of funds between different organisations were in keeping with the charities’ governing documents, with conflicts of interest being appropriately managed.

“The MWX Foundation should, though, have done more to document its decisions, especially regarding the charity’s expenditure on legal and administrative costs.

“We also note that a substantial proportion of funds went into setting up and then winding up a charity that was active for a relatively short period of time.

“Trustees cannot predict future events when establishing a new charity – circumstances can change after a charity has been set up.

“But all trustees, before setting up a charity, should think about the longer term, and consider carefully whether a new charity is the best way of achieving the intended aims.

“This helps ensure that set-up costs are offset by longer-term impact.”

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The charity was investigated for alleged misuse of charitable fundsCredit: PA:Press Association
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex founded Sussex Royal in July 2019 after they decided to break away from The Royal Foundation, which they ran with Prince William and Kate Middleton.

But the couple quit as directors last July following the couple’s move to America.

Both Harry and William faced a probe into the alleged misuse of charity money, including a large sum given to the Sussexes’ former UK charity.

The Charity Commission found the transfer of funds was in line with the rules – with the couple saying this “confirmed what we knew from the start”.

It also found that the transfer of funds by MWX to not-for-profit sustainable travel organisation Travalyst was lawful.

The Commission further concluded that Travalyst could receive charitable funds for the promotion of sustainable travel only, which is a charitable activity in law, and there was no evidence to suggest that any conflicts of interest between MWX and Travalyst were managed inappropriately.

It did, however, find that the MWX Foundation failed to adequately document its decisions on spending.

Helen Earner, director of regulatory services at the Charity Commission, said: “The Commission has found that decisions on spending were not adequately documented, limiting the ability of the trustees to demonstrate the reasons behind those decisions.

“The failure to properly record decisions does not represent best practice and is not in line with Charity Commission guidance.”

It noted that the trustees took a decision to close the charity just 12 months after it was established “doing so during difficult and unexpected circumstances”.

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Meghan and Harry’s pal Omid Scobie shared a statement from the couple

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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex agreed to stop using their ‘Sussex Royal’ brand after officially stepping away from The Firm, becoming the MWX Foundation

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Republic issued an apology following the Commission’s review
Meghan and Harry shared a statement in response to the review’s outcome via their friend Omid Scobie, who penned Megxit biography Finding Freedom.

It read: “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.

“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.”

The charity was investigated after Republic, which campaigns for an elected head of state, reported the Sussexes and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s foundations to the Commission for alleged “inappropriate use of charitable funds, conflicts of interest and lack of independence”.

Republic has issued a lengthy apology on its website.

It says that it “falsely claimed” the transfer of funds was improper and likely to be unlawful, and that it failed to contact the Royal Foundation or Sussex Royal before going to the Commission and the media.

The pressure group said: “If we had contacted the organisations directly, we accept we would have realised quickly that there was nothing improper in their operations.

“The Charity Commission has now concluded its review and found that all activities of the charities were lawful and proper.

“We apologise 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 publicised untrue claims.”

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