Charity Watchdog Investigates Prince Charles’s Foundation

Britain’s top charity regulator has started an inquiry into Prince Charles’s architecture nonprofit group following allegations that it has acted as the prince’s “personal lobbying firm,” the BBC reports.

An anti-monarchy organization, Republic, complained to the Charity Commission, saying that the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment had influenced the choice of architect for a major residential redevelopment in west London. The initial modernist design was withdrawn after the prince called it “unsympathetic.”

A foundation official called the accusation unfounded, saying the organization’s board values Prince Charles’s vision as head of the charity, but “we take our own decisions.”