Late Queen was ‘thrilled’ at the dramatic resignation of then-Prince Charles’ closest aide following a Mail on Sunday expose, says ‘cash for access’ fixer

Queen Elizabeth was “thrilled” by the dramatic resignation of then-Prince Charles’ closest aide following a revelation in the Mail on Sunday, it was sensationally claimed last night.

Michael Wynne-Parker, a society fixer himself embroiled in a “cash for access” scandal, claims Prince Andrew told him in a phone call that the late Queen was relieved when Michael Fawcett, who ran Charles’ charities, stepped down following the MoS revelations about his abuse of his position.

The Duke of York, calling from Balmoral, is said to have told Mr Wynne-Parker: ‘I’m with Mum and she’s very pleased with you, Michael, because you’ve probably saved the monarchy.’

The astonishing claim is just one of a number of incendiary comments from Wynne-Parker, 78, who spoke for the first time since he was disqualified last week by the Charity Commission following a three-year investigation into donations to The King’s Foundation.

He told this newspaper: ‘They picked out the person who was a player, but not the most important player.’

The Metropolitan Police also launched an investigation in 2022 into claims that the King’s right-hand man, Michael Fawcett (pictured with King Charles III in 2021), had registered an honorary title for Dr Bin Mahfouz

Michael Wynne-Parker, a society fixer – now embroiled in a “cash for access” scandal – claims Prince Andrew told him in a phone call that the late Queen was “thrilled” when Fawcett stepped down.

In August 2021, The Mail on Sunday published a leaked email in which Mr Wynne-Parker gave details of how a dinner with Prince Charles and an overnight stay at Dumfries House in Scotland – owned by the King’s Foundation (then the Prince’s Foundation) – could be arranged in return for a six-figure donation, paid through a bank account linked to Burke’s Peerage, a guide to the aristocracy.

A week later, in a further shocking revelation, this newspaper revealed how Mr Fawcett, who had been at Charles’s side for 40 years, offered to help Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz – a Saudi billionaire and a donor to the Foundation – obtain a knighthood and British citizenship.

Mr Fawcett, 61, the king’s former valet, resigned as chief executive of the Foundation shortly after he was confronted with the MoS evidence. His downfall was a huge blow to Charles the year before his mother’s death and his accession to the throne. He is reported to have said: ‘I can get along without almost everyone, except Michael.’

But elsewhere within the royal family, Mr Wynne-Parker claims, there was gratitude for what was seen as his role in bringing the controversy to light.

Last night he said: ‘I was absolutely delighted when I got a phone call from Prince Andrew. What he meant was that the Queen was so pleased that Fawcett had finally been exposed that she would have been relieved – thank God we don’t have to deal with him any more.’

Mr Wynne-Parker claimed there were concerns about the significant influence Mr Fawcett had over Charles.

“He said, ‘Sir, this is what we need to do, this is how we need to do it,’ and in a busy life you might be inclined to go along with that.”

Michael Wynne-Parker has been found unfit to serve as a director of a charity and disqualified from holding a senior position or directorship of a charity for 12 years, following an investigation into the King’s Foundation

The Charity Commission found that almost £200,000 in donations meant for the King’s Foundation were transferred to the bank account of Mr Wynne-Parker’s private company (pictured right)

Michael Fawcett (pictured with His Majesty and Queen Camilla in 2018) was previously accused of helping to secure a CBE for the Saudi tycoon, which was presented by Charles in a private ceremony in 2016

However, the case was dropped by the Metropolitan Police two years later, as detectives decided to take no further action (pictured: Michael Fawcett outside his home in south-west London)

The palace and Mr Fawcett declined to comment last night.

Mr Wynne-Parker, who was an adviser to Dr Bin Mahfouz and a trustee of his charity, the Mahfouz Foundation, was last week declared ‘unfit to serve as a trustee of a charity’ following an investigation by the Charity Commission. A damning investigation found he used the Foundation as a conduit to try to funnel donations to The King’s Foundation.

A separate report by the Charity Commission on Burke’s Peerage Foundation said that the trustees

William Bortrick and Mark Ayre misused more than £113,000 of charity money, including £16,000 on an antique desk and bookcase, both of which ended up in Mr Bortrick’s home.