Prince of Wales charity donor sent out '£20K cash for access' invitation without William's knowledge - forcing Kensington Palace to cut ties with millionaire art gallery curator

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A donor to the Prince of Wales's charities sent out a £20,000 'cash for access' invitation without his knowledge - forcing Kensington Palace to cut ties with her.
Minerva Mondejar Steiner, a millionaire art gallery curator who sponsored William's annual polo fundraiser, offered a meeting with the Waleses for the whopping sum.
The Filipina-Swiss philanthropist, 45, also told advertisers 'VVIP tickets', 'access to royalty' and a slot in a magazine given out at the polo could be theirs - for £50,000.
The Royal Charity Polo Cup match sees millionaire donors gather to watch the future king play polo and donate to causes important to him.
Over nearly 15 years of the prince taking part in the exclusive, invite-only event, set to return in Windsor next month, he has raised more than £13million for charity.
Invitee Dr Mondejar Steiner issued her 'strictly private and confidential' offer to members of a luxury travel and lifestyle community, The Sunday Times reports.
She told subscribers to A Small World in an email that donating a smaller set amount to her foundation could bag them a spot at the prestigious event.
A larger sum, meanwhile, could earn members of the Swiss company - which offers members exclusive travel benefits, deals and events - an invite to meet William and his wife Princess Catherine themselves, she promised.
The gallerist wrote: 'As a patron of the Mondejar Foundation, you are invited to support their philanthropic work through a charitable donation, in return for which you will be welcomed to this prestigious occasion.
'Patron contributions: £6,000 - admission for one patron. £20,000 - includes full access plus a private audience with Prince William and Princess Catherine.'
The message also promised a 'luncheon' with 'free-flowing champagne', entrance to an art exhibition and a chance to mingle with 'ultra-high-net-worth individuals, cultural icons and luxury leaders'.
It warned: 'The attached invitation is for your eyes only and not to be shared publicly or on social media.'
It jars with the highly private nature of the annual polo event.
The palace often only announces William's involvement and releases event pictures after the match has finished - as happened last year.
These recent revelations also threaten to cast a shadow over what is normally a highly important event for the prince.
It allows him to enjoy one of his favourite sports since boyhood, surrounded by friends, family and supporters, while continuing his charity work.
Previous events have seen him fundraise for causes including the Royal African Society, the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Mountain Rescue England and Wales.
The Guards Polo Club, where the fundraiser takes place, also has a long-standing association with his family.
The late Queen was its patron, while her husband the late Prince Philip was its president for nearly 70 years, from its formation in 1955 until his death in 2021.
It also harks back to similar cash-for-access controversies while the King was Prince of Wales.
Charles, who always denied knowing about any such deals, repeatedly met donors who donated purely on condition of meeting or dining with him.
Not only this, it raises questions about how Dr Mondejar Steiner's gallery the Mondejar Gallery was allowed to become an official sponsor of the event.
A Kensington Palace source said it had not been aware of the behaviour in the email, adding candidly William did not 'condone' it and there would be no 'cash for access'.
They said they had since asked that the sponsorship to be terminated and were thankful to learn the truth.
The source denied knowledge of her using the match to raise money for her own projects or selling access to William.
They added they only knew about Dr Mondejar Steiner's gallery, not her foundation.
It is believed the prince will still attend the event and host a private reception to express gratitude to 'those involved' in it.
The palace said a Buckingham Palace secretariat had been the one to perform the checks on the Mondejar Gallery as a sponsor.
It did not say how much Dr Mondejar Steiner paid to be named as a sponsor or put on an exhibition at the match, saying such sums varied.
Documents show she had prepared 1,000 copies of her own magazine which she told advertisers would be given to 'ultra-high-net-worth' art sector leaders at the event.
In the magazine, a double-page spread would cost advertisers £50,000, the back cover £35,000 and the inside front cover £30,000.
Dr Mondejar Steiner declined to comment.
Sources close to her said she could not as she had signed a confidentiality agreement preventing her speaking on the event until after it.
They said her main goal is to fundraise for her father's technical college in her home city Tacloban in the Philippines, where she studied a BA in Computer Science, graduating in 1999.
The Filipina 'collector and curator', who lives in Switzerland and is married to Swiss director Michael Steiner, studied fashion at University of the Arts London in 2003.
She then took a further education course in art history at Oxford University from 2006 to 2008 and an Open University BA in Arts and Humanities from 2009 to 2011.
This was followed by a PhD in Educational Management from the University of La Salette in the Philippines, listed on her LinkedIn as completed in January this year.
Dr Mondejar Steiner was pictured with Prince Harry last September, at the annual awards of WellChild, a charity for sick children.
Around the same time, she was also pictured with Benedict Cumberbatch at a film screening he hosted.
It is unclear exactly how wealthy she is. Two operations she is linked to in California failed to file accounts and were struck off for it.
She founded a property company in London in January, just before incorporating her foundation as a kind of non-profit, a 'community interest company', in April.
Neither have a well-documented presence online.
Brunilde Le Jossec, Head of Experiences at A Small World, said: 'To clarify, [our company] is not selling access, or facilitating any private meeting with members of the British royal family.'
She said the Mondejar Foundation approached ASW directly, asking to share details of its invitation to become its patron.
She continued: 'Believing this a relevant opportunity to support a philanthropic cause, a representative of the events team proactively forwarded this to a small group of members, whom they believed would be interested in supporting this charitable cause.'