‘Toxicity’ Claims Denied, Leadership Failures Blamed

• The chairwoman of Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale is talking out in opposition to the Duke of Sussex after he, his co-founder and the board of trustees resigned
• A supply near trustees and patrons on the charity has acknowledged that her claims are “baseless and probably defamatory”
• Prince Harry arrange Sentebale to help younger folks affected by HIV alongside Prince Seeiso in 2006 in reminiscence of each of their late moms, together with Princess Diana

Prince Harry’s charity, Sentebale, is embroiled in a bitter dispute between its chairwoman, Dr. Sophie Chandauka, and former patrons and trustees.  

In an interview with the Financial Times on Saturday, March 29, Sentebale chair Dr. Sophie Chandauka, who took on the position in July 2023, claimed that Harry and his co-founder Prince Seeiso — who resigned as patrons of the group earlier this week — needed “to drive a failure after which come to the rescue.”

However, a supply near the patrons and trustees tells PEOPLE that their resolution to exit the charity was based mostly on Chandauka’s dealing with of the charity’s funds. (In response, a consultant for Chandauka beforehand informed PEOPLE: “First and foremost, like a lot of the content material circulated yesterday, numerous info being shared is unfaithful and defamatory in nature.”)

The supply provides: “The trustees tried to barter this privately and requested she contemplate her place as a consequence of their lack of belief and confidence in her as a pacesetter, as demonstrated by the monetary place she put the charity in.”

“They absolutely anticipated this publicity stunt and reached their collective resolution with this in thoughts,” the supply provides. “They stay agency of their resignation for the nice of the charity and stay up for the adjudication of the reality.”

Elsewhere within the interview, Chandauka claims that public backlash following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal exit harm the charity’s capability to safe new donors and recruit senior employees.

“The No. 1 threat for this group was the toxicity of its lead patron’s model,” Chandauka, a Zimbabwean company finance lawyer, informed the outlet.

In response, the supply argues that Sentebale had been closely reliant on Prince Harry’s involvement — notably by occasions just like the Sentebale Polo Cup, the place sponsors had been attracted by his participation — and that the Duke of Sussex had donated $1.5 million from his memoir Spare.  

According to Chandauka, a key turning level for the group allegedly got here when tensions arose between herself and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at a polo occasion benefiting Sentebale in April 2024. A viral second that seemingly confirmed Meghan transferring Chandauka away from Harry for a photograph after he gained a match generated adverse consideration for Meghan, and the prince allegedly requested Chandauka to publicly tackle the incident.

“I said no, we’re not setting a precedent by which we become an extension of the Sussex PR machine,” Chandauka informed the Financial Times of the incident.

The supply who spoke with PEOPLE insists that the dispute stems from governance issues, not private grievances. They keep that they “only ever want the truth to be shared.”

Chandauka additionally accused the charity’s board of “misogyny and misogynoir,” or misogyny in opposition to Black girls, for the way they handled her as a pacesetter.

The supply calls Chandauka’s claims of intimidation, racial bias and gender discrimination “baseless and potentially defamatory,” citing one other trustee, Dr. Kelello Lerotholi, who denies witnessing such conduct.

In one other interview with Sky News, which is about to air in full on Sunday, March 30, Chandauka claimed to have skilled “harassment and bullying at scale” after Harry and others left the group.

“The solely motive I’m right here … is as a result of sooner or later on Tuesday, Prince Harry licensed the discharge of a dangerous piece of reports to the surface world with out informing me or my nation administrators, or my government director,” Chandauka informed Sky News’ Trevor Phillips.

“And can you imagine what that attack has done for me, on me and the 540 individuals in the Sentebale organizations and their famil[ies]?” she continued. “That is an example of harassment and bullying at scale.”

The Duke of Sussex, 40, and Prince Seeiso, 58, introduced on March 26, that they had been stepping down as patrons of the charity.

After the board of trustees requested Chandauka to resign, she introduced a lawsuit in opposition to the charity, which helps younger folks in southern Africa. The Charity Commission, based mostly within the U.Ok., confirmed they’re investigating.

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Prince Harry arrange Sentebale alongside Prince Seeiso in 2006 in reminiscence of each of their late moms. The Duke of Sussex noticed it as persevering with the legacy of Princess Diana, who campaigned to assist these with AIDS.

“With heavy hearts, we’ve resigned from our roles as Patrons of the group till additional discover, in assist of and solidarity with the board of trustees who’ve needed to do the identical. It is devastating that the connection between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down past restore, creating an untenable scenario,” the princes mentioned partially on the time.

“…What’s transpired is unthinkable. We are in shock that we’ve to do that, however we’ve a continued duty to Sentebale’s beneficiaries, so we can be sharing all of our issues with the Charity Commission as to how this took place.”