- On March 26, Prince Harry resigned from Sentebale, a charity he cofounded.
- He resigned in solidarity with the board of trustees, who stepped down after the chair refused to.
- Now, the chair, Sophie Chandauka, has accused Prince Harry of bullying her.
One of Prince Harry's charitable organizations has become the center of controversy.
On March 26, Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho announced they were resigning as patrons of Sentebale, a charity they cofounded in 2006.
The pair said in their announcement that it was "devastating" they had to step down and pointed to issues with the organization's chair, Sophie Chandauka, as the reason for their resignation.
Days later, Chandauka accused Prince Harry of "harassment and bullying at scale" in a Sky News interview.
Sentebale in turmoil
When it was founded, Sentebale aimed to support children and young people living with HIV or AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana. In 2024, it expanded its mission to help young people more generally in southern Africa.
The princes confounded the organization in honor of their late mothers and have maintained a close relationship for decades. Prince Seeiso even appeared in the Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan" in 2022.
Harry and Seeiso have been patrons of Sentebale for nearly 20 years, with Harry frequently traveling to Africa to support the organization.
However, in recent months, tensions have been mounting between Sentebale's board and Chandauka, who was appointed chair in July 2023. Chandauka, a lawyer and biotech founder, had previously been a Sentebale board member from 2009 to 2015, according to the organization's website.
Five former Sentebale trustees said in a statement shared with Business Insider that they "made the difficult decision to unanimously resign," adding that they saw "no other path forward as the result of our loss in trust and confidence in the Chair of the board."
"Our priority has always been, and will always be, what's in the best interest of the charity, and it's desperately sad the breakdown in relationship escalated to a lawsuit by the Chair against the charity, to block us from voting her out after our request for her resignation was rejected," the trustees said. "We could not in good conscience allow Sentebale to undertake that legal and financial burden and have been left with no other option but to vacate our positions."
CBS News said the trustees asked Chandauka to resign because of "a change in Sentebale's mission." On Tuesday, the BBC also reported that financial issues led to tension at the organization.
Harry and Seeiso announced their resignation in a joint statement "in support of and solidarity with the board of trustees."
"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," their statement said. "What's transpired is unthinkable. We are in shock that we have to do this, but we have a continued responsibility to Sentebale's beneficiaries, so we will be sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about."
"Although we may no longer be Patrons, we will always be its founders, and we will never forget what this charity is capable of achieving when it is in the right care," the princes said.
Chandauka said in a statement shared with People that she refused to step down at the board's request because "beneath all the victim narrative and fiction that has been syndicated to press is 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."
Chandauka did not respond to a request for comment from BI.
The New York Times also reported that Chandauka replaced the board with four new members following the resignations and filed a report against the former trustees with the Charity Commission, which regulates and registers charities in England and Wales, including Sentebale. Harry and Seeiso said in their statement they also intended to file a report to the commission.
When contacted by BI for this story, the Charity Commission said, "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."
A source close to the trustees told BI that the board "fully expected this publicity stunt and reached their collective decision with this in mind. They remain firm in their resignation, for the good of the charity, and look forward to the adjudication of the truth."
Then, last weekend, Chandauka accused Harry of "bullying" her by going public with Sentebale's problems.
Sophie Chandauka said Prince Harry was 'bullying' her
On Sunday, Chandauka appeared on the Sky News program "Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips" to discuss Sentebale, focusing on Harry in her interview — even though Seeiso and the board members also resigned.
Chandauka said in the interview that her relationship with the prince had largely been "fantastic" but accused him of "harassment and bullying." Specifically, she said he did not inform her of his decision to resign as patron before he and Seeiso released their statement publicly.
"At some point on Tuesday, Prince Harry authorized 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 organizations and their family?"
"That is an example of harassment and bullying at scale," Chandauka said, adding that she believes Harry activated "the Sussex machine" to publicize Sentebale's issues.
A source familiar with the events told BI that despite Chandauka's comments, Harry and Seeiso had sent their joint resignation letter to the trustees and the chair on March 10.
In the same interview, Chandauka also said she had issues with Prince Harry since she became chair and believed he had been trying to oust her for months.
She said his step back as a senior royal put Sentebale at financial risk and that his Netflix series about polo interfered with a Sentebale charity fundraiser, pointing to a venue change. However, a source close to the production said the show's involvement ultimately led to another player participating and Sentebale being featured in the docuseries.
Chandauka also said Meghan Markle's unexpected attendance became a problem at the match. Cameras filmed an awkward interaction between her and Meghan as they tried to fit onstage together during an awards ceremony, which led to negative press stories about Meghan. Chandauka told the Financial Times that Harry asked her to release a statement in support of his wife at the time, but she refused.
"I said no, we're not setting a precedent by which we become an extension of the Sussex PR machine," she told the outlet.
As of Tuesday, Chandauka remains chair of Sentebale's board.
