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A British charity which faced accusations of financial irregularities involving salaries and bonuses while it was being promoted by celebrities including Meghan Markle has awarded its mother-and-daughter bosses pay packages worth more than half a million pounds in a single year.
The packages are revealed in the latest accounts of the charity One Young World, which is run by mother and daughter pair Kate Robertson, 70, and Ella Robertson McKay, 34.
One Young World has enjoyed a soaring public profile since Meghan Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, attended one of their summits.
Now the Mail has learned that latest accounts show CEO Ms Robertson received £275,699 and her daughter Ms Robertson McKay, who is now managing director, £226,557 in pay and benefits.
The new figures are for 2024, which was the same year that the organisation received an official warning from the Charity Commission over suspected 'governance failings and breaches of trust' by its trustees, and 'unauthorised payments'.
The commission specifically intervened 'following concerns raised in the media about senior staff salaries and bonuses paid at the charity, and potential conflicts of interests, including employment of a person connected to a trustee.'
The warning did not relate to the 2024 accounts but historical matters that are understood to have since been resolved.
The controversial charity was back in the news this week because of an incident involving its most famous supporter, Meghan - and some biting criticism of her.
Meghan and Harry greets One Young World's CEO Kate Robertson at the September 2022 summit in Manchester. One Young World has enjoyed a soaring public profile since the couple's endorsement along with other celebrities
One Young World CEO Kate Robertson recieved £275,699 in bonuses and salary
Ella Robertson McKay, daughter of Kate Robertson and a managing director at the charity, received £226,557 in pay and benefits
The now 44-year old Duchess of Sussex had become a One Young World 'counsellor' in 2014, and her inspirational quotes still appear on its marketing literature.
But it was her appearance as keynote speaker at the charity's Manchester summit in September 2022 that led to renewed focus this week.
A new book by celebrity biographer Tom Bower, 'Betrayal: Power, Deceit and the Fight for the Future of the Royal Family', which is published next week, claims organisers were upset by the tone of Meghan's speech.
The book claims that Meghan had offended the charity's bosses by making her speech all about herself.
Bower claims that Ella Robertson read Meghan's speech from the autocue minutes before she was due to address 2,300 people and was horrified.
He writes: 'In the countdown to the big moment, Ella Robertson read Meghan Markle's proposed speech on the Autocue.
'"She's f***ed it," groaned Robertson.'
Bower continues: 'Meghan had abandoned the billed theme: 'Ethical leadership — how can we instill transparency, honesty and integrity as core values for leaders?'
He claims: 'To Ella Robertson's anger, her [Meghan's] speech praised One Young World, who 'saw in me what I wanted to see fully in myself'. And over the next ten minutes, she spoke exclusively about herself and her rise to fame. At the end, the audience clapped politely.'
It is understood that One Young World has raised concerns about the accuracy of what was published in the book.
Meghan's speech that day revealed she had brought her exiled royal husband back to the UK - at the height of his row over money and protection - for the event because she wanted Harry to 'witness first hand my respect for this organisation'.
'It's very nice to be back in the U.K., and it's very nice to be back with all of you at One World,' Meghan began.
The charity's largest event is an annual conference held at rotating international venues.
The vast majority of One Young World's £8million plus income in 2024 came from fees to attend its conference in Montreal together with selling associated exhibition space.
Delegates were charged more than £3000 for a day pass, while one including accommodation cost over £4000.
The Charity Commission opened a 'regulatory compliance case to examine concerns about remuneration at One Young World'.
One Yong World's annual summits attract a host of celebrities. At 2022's four-day summit, Harry and Meghan gave a speech during the two-hour-long opening ceremony in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall after flying to the UK
Ella Robertson was reportedly horrified by her speech because it was all about her, saying she had 'f***** it', celebrity biographer Tom Bower wrote
Read More The meaning behind Meghan Markle's gushing speech to Prince Harry
It now says: 'We have been assured that the actions set out in our official warning to One Young World have been implemented and our compliance case into the charity is now closed. The latest accounts submitted by the charity do not give rise to new regulatory concerns. As always, if we receive any new concerns, we will assess them in the normal way.'
A Charity Commission spokesperson added: 'Although the Charity Commission is not a regulator or controller of executive pay, we expect decisions made by trustees about executive pay to be made carefully, mindfully and in a way that ultimately serves the charity's beneficiaries.'
There was no suggestion that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who live in America, knew about the regularity concerns.
A previous Commission statement read: 'All charities should be able to look donors and volunteers in the eye and say how their decisions about pay impact on the cause they pursue or the people they help.'
The salaries of its leadership team are audited and approved by the charity's trustees.
Kate Robertson, a former advertising executive who founded the charity in 2009, was originally a trustee, but insisted she had nothing to do with setting pay levels.
The charity admitted that it only realised in 2017 that it needed Charity Commission permission to pay Mrs Robertson because she was also a trustee.
There was also controversy about Mrs Robertson's own daughter being employed on such a high salary.
Despite the charity's youthful profile, celebrity participants included Sir Bob Geldof, 74, and Cher, the 79-year-old American pop star.
The charity organised its 2025 conference in Munich, Germany, and is currently planning one in Cape Town, South Africa later this year.
The McKays remain at the helm of the charity. It's unclear if they have taken any pay cut since 2024.
Founded in 2010 in London, the organisation pledged to bring 'young leaders' together every year in a different country to discuss global challenges.
A One Young World spokesperson said: 'One Young World was issued with a warning two years ago by the Charity Commission pertaining to technical governance matters that occurred nine years previously and at a time when the organisation was a fledgling charity. These procedural errors were made due to failings in legal advice given at the time, with the Commission itself recognising that One Young World had not acted in bad faith. The Commission closed this case in December 2024 and removed the warning altogether.
'As part of the compliance case, One Young World undertook an external compensation benchmarking exercise to ensure that compensation is awarded in line with international standards and the Charity Commission's warning has since been removed. For complete clarity, executive salaries at One Young World are independently decided and are fully compliant with English charity law.'
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