Prince Harry on Thursday hit out at “blatant lies” over Sentebale, the African organisation he co-founded, and said he believed a charity watchdog probe would “unveil the truth” of why he had to resign as a patron.
Sentebale has been at the centre of an explosive boardroom row that escalated over the weekend when its chairperson Sophie Chandauka publicly accused Harry of “bullying” and being involved in a “cover up”.
Days earlier, Harry and co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho announced they were resigning from the charity they established in 2006, after the trustees quit when Chandauka refused a demand to step down.
Harry launched the charity in honour of his mother, Princess Diana, to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and later Botswana.
“What has transpired over the last week has been heartbreaking to witness, especially when such blatant lies hurt those who have invested decades in this shared goal,” he said in a statement.
“On behalf of the former trustees and patrons, we share in the relief that the Charity Commission confirmed they will be conducting a robust inquiry,” he said.
“We fully expect it will unveil the truth that collectively forced us to resign,” he added.
The Charity Commission said it informed Sentebale on Wednesday that it had “opened a regulatory compliance case” following “concerns raised”.
The watchdog said it would be examining whether the charity’s current and former trustees had “fulfilled their duties and responsibilities under charity law”.
‘Sussex PR machine’
In an interview with Sky News television broadcast on Sunday, Chandauka accused Harry of trying to force her out through “bullying (and) harassment”.
According to Chandauka, there was a culture of “silence” at the organisation, with board members reluctant to speak out against the Duke of Sussex, whom she accused of “belligerence” in board meetings and beyond.
In one example, Chandauka criticised Harry for his decision to bring a Netflix camera crew to the charity’s polo fundraiser last year, as well as an unplanned appearance by his wife Meghan at the event.
Following critical media coverage of the fundraiser, she claimed Harry “asked me to issue some sort of a statement in support of the Duchess (of Sussex)”.
She alleged the request to back Meghan was a push by the “Sussex PR machine” that “supports Prince Harry’s efforts”.
The accusations have come as a fresh blow for the prince, who kept up only a handful of his private patronages including with Sentebale after a dramatic split with the British royals in 2020.
While Harry was integral to the founding vision of the charity, to which he once said he was “committed for the rest of my life”, Chandauka has said “Sentebale has a future” beyond the prince.
Harry chose the name Sentebale as a tribute to Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997 when the prince was just 12. It means “forget me not” in the Sesotho language and is also used to say goodbye.
Prince Harry, who now lives in California with his wife Meghan and their two children, did not give Sky News a formal response to Chandauka’s allegations.
But some former trustees have questioned the veracity of her claims.
A source close to the trustees told the BBC they “fully expected this publicity stunt” after they left the board.
