Scandals is part and parcel of royal life since the time of King Alfred in the Medieval period. But last November, a scandal involving Prince Charles and counterfeit art emerged amid Prince Harry and Meghan's royal drama and Prince Andrew's sex-related controversy.
According to reports, four artworks displayed at the Dumfries House, one of Prince Charles' charities, were discovered as forgeries. The Prince of Wales got the paintings of Picasso, Monet and Dali from James Stunt, a businessman who turned out to be bankrupt.
In 2007, Prince Charles opened the Dumfries House to the public under The Prince's Foundation. The 18th-century property, which the Prince of Wales restored, displayed very impressive and expensive pieces, including works of art of world-famous artists. These artworks were usually on loan to the Prince of Wales as Dumfries House didn't have enough collections to show to the public.
However, an American artist with a mastery on forgery recently claimed that Stunt's painting collection were apparently his creations. Tony Tetro bragged about his work in an email to USA Today in November.
Tetro said that, Stunt, the ex-husband of Formula 1 heiress Petra Ecclestone, commissioned him to do the paint emulations knowing his forte on making copies. The artist said that Stunt informed him he wanted the paintings for his home in London and Los Angeles. He was able to sell 11 forgeries to the ex-billionaire.
But then, Stunt loaned Tetro's paintings to Prince Charles, who in turn displayed the pieces in Dumfries Homes. Apparently, even the royal was not able to tell that the artworks were forgeries.
According to Clarence House, the paintings have been removed since Tetro's admission. The Prince of Wales accepted the pieces in good faith and it was not the role of The Prince's Foundation to verify its authenticity.
Tetro said that art experts will be able to scrutinize the paintings and immediately spot the forgeries. Unfortunately for Prince Charles, he was not aware of who the actual artist was and Stunt never told him about it when he borrowed the paintings. The artist said that he regrets Prince Charles got involved in Stunt's embarrassing stunt.
Meanwhile, in a series of Instagram videos, Stunt claimed that he personally apologized to Prince Charles for dragging his name in this expose. However, Stunt never admitted that the paintings were fake. He also said that there's no crime in loaning the artworks to a friend for the public to enjoy.
