Royal visit to temple called off

Buckingham Palace has scrapped a royal visit to a city temple because of an investigation into how it is run, officials have said.

The Duke of Edinburgh was due to meet faith leaders at the Shree Hindu Temple in St Barnabas Road, Leicester, tomorrow.

However, in a statement released last night the royal household said a continuing probe by the Charity Commission meant it had called off the visit.

No further details of what is being investigated were offered.

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: "We can confirm that the Duke of Edinburgh will no longer be visiting the Shree Temple, in Leicester, during the royal visit to Leicester on Thursday as there is an ongoing investigation by the Charities Commission into the business operations of the temple."

A spokesman for the commission, which regulates UK charities, said: "Concerns have been brought to the attention of the Charity Commission about the administration and management of the Shree Hindu Temple and Community Centre.

"The commission is in correspondence with the charity about these issues."

An on-going row between two groups at the temple has also been blamed for the cancellation.

Yesterday, it emerged a letter had been sent to Buckingham Palace by some members of the temple complaining about how it was run.

It contained accusations about the conduct of other members.

The authors said that as a result of their concerns they did not think "a visit by the Duke of Edinburgh would be in the best interests of the Palace or the public".

In an attempt to rectify the rift, a meeting was organised on Monday night with police, council bosses, Buckingham Palace, the Diocese of Leicester and temple members.

But when members of the letter-writing group failed to attend, the Duke's visit was cancelled by Buckingham Palace because they feared there could be a protest.

Yesterday, those behind the letter said they were sorry if it had led to the cancellation of the royal visit.

Their spokesman, Minesh Patel, said: "We want to apologise for any upset we may have caused to people looking forward to the visit. We are so sad about this situation.

"We wanted the palace to know the problems we have here, but we did not want the visit to be cancelled. We did not think our words would be interpreted in this way.

"We have been made scapegoats here. There would not have been any protest or embarrassment caused by us, we were looking forward to being there."

He said that their group was not invited to the meeting on Monday.

Mr Patel said: "If we had known about this meeting we would have been there, calling for these issues to be put aside for the visit."

Temple general secretary Rashmi Joshi, who was not involved in writing the letter, said he was not aware of any investigation by the Charity Commission and would "categorically deny any wrong-doing".

He said: "The Charity Commission asked us for details of our membership a few months ago, that's all we have heard from them.

"The members who have caused trouble knew full well there was a meeting on Monday but chose not to come. They have realised what they have done and are back-tracking.

"Who sends a letter to the palace like that just before a royal visit and says they didn't mean it?

"This is a very dark day for this community. I and many others are so sad about the cancellation."

Leicester Council of Faiths has also expressed its sadness about the situation.

Chairman Minou Cortazzi said: "I am very disappointed. It is quite embarrassing, the Duke of Edinburgh must have seen this visit on the programme of events and now it has been cancelled.

"This problem is something within the Hindu community I was not aware of. They must resolve it."

A spokesman for the Leicestershire Lieutenancy, the Queen's representative in the county, said they still hoped Leicester's faith communities would meet the Duke and the Queen elsewhere during the day.

The visit to the temple was part of a full day of several visits by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh across Leicestershire.