EXCLUSIVE Charity loved by Princess Diana closes amid family dispute, writes RICHARD EDEN By Richard Eden for The Daily Mail Published: 17:30 EDT, 16 September 2024 | Updated: 17:42 EDT, 16 September 2024 e-mail View comments A foundation beloved by Princess Diana and the Queen Mother has shut down amid a war of words between the son and grandson of Sir Douglas Bader. I hear that the Battle of Britain veteran’s grandson, Charley, has threatened legal action against the Douglas Bader Foundation (DBF) after it collapsed under financial pressures. The amputees’ charity was created in 1982 by Bader’s son-in-law David Bickers, 74, and other friends and family.
For at least a decade, Bickers’ son Charley - Bader’s grandson by his stepdaughter Wendy McCleave - has been an integral part of the organisation, working under a contract basis with his firm Trillion Tree for about £30,000-a-year. Charley was behind the popular Bader’s Bus Company flight display team, the first British team made up of disabled pilots, and heavily promoted it in media appearances. But Charley, 44, left earlier this year amid a row with his father and has threatened to sue for unfair dismissal.
A source tells me: ‘It is a desperately sad situation. Everyone knew that David would one day step back, but it was assumed that Charley would take up the reins. Princess Diana being opening the Douglas Bader Centre.
The foundation has been threatened with legal action by Sir Douglas's grandson after it .