The chair of Sentebale, the charity co-founded by Prince Harry to support young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana, has accused the royal of “harassment and bullying at scale” after he quit the organisation this week.
Prince Harry, along with co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, stepped down from the charity following a dispute with chair Sophie Chandauka. In an interview with Sky News, which will air in full on Sunday, Chandauka revealed the impact of Harry’s resignation.
“At some point on Tuesday, Prince Harry authorised the release of a damaging piece of news to the outside world without informing me or my country directors, or my executive director,” she said.
“Can you imagine what that attack has done for me, on me, and the 540 individuals in the Sentebale organisations and their family?” she continued. “That is an example of harassment and bullying at scale.”
Representatives for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan did not respond to the allegations, and Sky News reported that the couple declined to offer any formal response.
A source close to the charity’s trustees and patrons, including Harry, suggested that they anticipated what they described as a publicity stunt and had made their collective decision with this in mind. The source further confirmed that they remained firm in their resignation decision.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, Harry and Seeiso described the dispute with Chandauka as “devastating,” noting that the relationship had broken beyond repair.
Chandauka has previously claimed that Sentebale was plagued by “poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny (and) misogynoir.” In an interview with the Financial Times, she revealed that Harry’s team had asked her to protect Meghan after negative media coverage, which she refused to do.
She also remarked that the charity’s management was “no longer appropriate in 2023 in a post-Black Lives Matter world” and noted that funders were now seeking “locally-led initiatives.”
Harry and Seeiso stated on Wednesday that the trustees acted in the charity’s best interests by asking Chandauka to step down, but she then filed a lawsuit to remain in her position.
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