Column Raises Questions Over William and Earthshot Donor
A Daily Mail column has renewed scrutiny of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize after highlighting claims involving a senior figure at one of the initiative’s listed partners. The commentary, published on Friday, suggests the Prince of Wales may face growing pressure to address questions about the charity’s donors and its links to corporate supporters.
In her piece, Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir wrote that DP World chief executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem donated more than £1 million to Earthshot in 2022 and was “implicated in the Epstein scandal”, after released files were said to show email contact between him and the late financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2009, Daily Mail reported.
Moir also claimed Prince William ignored repeated questions from reporters about allegations involving Epstein during a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, where he was pictured alongside Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The column described the trip as part of a diplomatic role for the British government, while criticising the optics of the visit and the Prince’s public silence on the wider issue.
The article said anti-monarchy campaigners had reported Earthshot to the UK charity regulator and called for the Prince of Wales to cut ties with bin Sulayem, a development that echoes earlier Britpop News reporting on how Earthshot’s prize operation has come under scrutiny over an Epstein-linked partner.
Earthshot has not responded within the column to the allegations raised, and the Daily Mail piece was written as opinion rather than a statement from the charity or Buckingham Palace. Any formal inquiry by the Charity Commission would typically focus on governance, due diligence and whether trustees acted appropriately in managing reputational risk.
