The heir to the British throne has closed his controversial alternative medicine charity, just days after a former member of staff was arrested over fraud allegations.

In a statement, Prince Charles’s Foundation for Integrated Health said, “Whilst the closure has been planned for many months and is part of an agreed strategy, the Trustees have brought forward the closure timetable as a result of a fraud investigation at the charity. The Trustees feel that The Foundation has achieved its key objective of promoting the use of integrated health.”

The Foundation was not popular with many scientists, as it often seen as interfering on behalf of treatments with no evidence base. Notably, Edzard Ernst, a professor of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter, became involved in a spat with it after he criticised its efforts to promote unproven treatments (see, for example ‘Meddling’ Prince nearly cost health don his job or Prince of Wales charity may face investigation over ‘vendetta’ claims)

Ellen Raphael, director of the group Sense About Science, said in a statement, “If this marks the end of an organisation that for more than 20 years has been the vehicle for the Prince of Wales’ interference in policy and restricted the development of evidence-based medicine, then the public has everything to gain, however this has come about.”