Inside Prince Harry’s row with Sentebale charity chair Dr Sophie Chandauka
Prince Harry has quit as patron of his charity Sentebale after a row between the chair of its board and the trustees.
Harry has stepped down alongside his co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho and Sentebale’s board of trustees.
The relationship between the chair Dr Sophie Chandauka, and the trustees ‘broke down beyond repair’, it is understood.
She has reported the charity to the UK Charity Commission and sued them after trustees questioned whether she was best placed to be chair, The Times reports.
Dr Chandauka says she has ‘blown the whistle’ about ‘abuse of power’ and ‘harassment’, and said her work was ‘in pursuit of the integrity of the organisation’.
Why has Prince Harry resigned from the charity?
The princes said in a joint statement: ‘With heavy hearts, we have resigned from our roles as Patrons of the organisation until further notice, in support of and solidarity with the board of trustees who have had to do the same.
‘It is devastating that the relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation.
‘These trustees acted in the best interest of the charity in asking the chair to step down, while keeping the wellbeing of staff in mind.
‘In turn, she sued the charity to remain in this voluntary position, further underscoring the broken relationship.’
The statement adds that the princes would be ‘sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about’.
The former trustees, Timothy Boucher, Mark Dyer, Audrey Kgosidintsi, Dr Kelello Lerotholi and Damian West, said in their statement that the decision is ‘nothing short of devastating’ for all of them.
They added in the statement: ‘This was not a choice willingly made, but rather something we felt forced into in order to look after the charity.’
Who is Dr Sophie Chandauka and why has she sued the charity?
Dr Sophie Chandauka is the Chair of Sentebale and is refusing to step down from the role.
Dr Chandauka said in her statement: ‘There are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct.’
She added this was the ‘story of a woman who dared to blow the whistle about issues of poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir – and the coverup that ensued’.
What is the Sentebale charity?
Sentebale was founded by Harry in 2006 and aimed to address the impact HIV and Aids has on young people living in Botswana and Lesotho.
Harry set it up with Prince Seeiso, whose mother died in 2003, after he visited Lesotho during his gap year.
The geographical focus of the charity centres on Lesotho and Botswana and part of the row focusses around a decision to focus fundraising largely in Africa.
What’s next for the charity?
A spokesman for Sentebale said: ‘We are pleased to confirm the restructuring of our board on 25 March 2025 to introduce experts with the capabilities and networks to accelerate Sentebale’s transformation agenda as announced last year.
‘In April 2024, Sentebale signalled its evolution from a development organisation focused on addressing the impact of HIV/Aids on the lives of children and young people in Lesotho and Botswana, to one that is addressing issues of youth health, wealth and climate resilience in Southern Africa.
‘Our highly successful Return to Southern Africa campaign with prospective international funders in October 2024 demonstrated Sentebale’s potential in these domains.’
The Charity Commission said in a statement to Metro: ‘We can confirm that we are aware of concerns about the governance of Sentebale.
‘We are assessing the issues to determine the appropriate regulatory steps.’
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