Prince Charles under fire after offshore investment revealed

The Prince of Wales is travelling to India for a meeting with the nation’s Prime Minister as details of his financial affairs were revealed in the leaked Paradise Papers.

Charles’ talks with Narendra Modi are likely to be overshadowed by reports by the BBC and the Guardian that the heir to the throne invested in an offshore carbon credit trading company then lobbied for two climate change deals to be altered.

India is the last leg of an 11-day trip, which has the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall tour Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.

Although the stop to the Commonwealth country is brief, just two days, the meeting with the leader of the world’s largest democracy is an important one.

Charles has spoken of his passion for the Commonwealth during the tour, and with a major gathering of leaders from the family of nations being staged in London next April, the meeting of the Prime Minister and the Prince will further strengthen UK-India relations ahead of the summit.

According to reports, the Paradise Papers show Charles’ private Duchy of Cornwall estate paid 113,500 dollars (£58,000) in 2007 for 50 shares in the Bermuda-registered Sustainable Forestry Management Ltd in 2007.

Following the purchase, Charles lobbied for a change to two climate change deals that would have directly benefited the business, the BBC and the Guardian said.

A spokesman for Clarence House denied that Charles had spoken out on the two deals in order to benefit financially.

“The Prince has never chosen to speak out on a topic simply because of a company that The Duchy may have invested in,” he said.

“In the case of climate change his views are well-known, indeed he has been warning of the threat of global warming to our environment for over 30 years.”

The spokesman added that carbon markets were just one of many strategies Charles had championed to try and slow the pace of climate change.

Margaret Hodge MP, a former chair of the Common’s Public Accounts Committee, told the Guardian: “What is clear is that there should be proper transparency of all investments made by the Duchy of Cornwall, that the Prince of Wales should not be involved in investment decisions and that the Treasury should monitor the investments to ensure that the reputation and integrity of our royal family is protected.”