Prince Harry tried to ‘force a failure’ of charity he founded, claims chair

The chair of an African charity co-founded by Prince Harry has accused him of trying to “force a failure” of the organisation, deepening an ongoing public row that has thrown Sentebale into disarray.

Sophie Chandauka, chair of Sentebale since 2023, claimed the charity’s founders — Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho — “want to force a failure and then come to the rescue”.

The royal patrons and all five of the charity’s trustees earlier this week resigned rather than remain involved with Chandauka as chair. The UK Charity Commission is looking into the events.

In her first interview since the dispute erupted, Chandauka defended her record as chair, insisted the organisation would “live on” and said Prince Harry’s “brand” had hindered the charity.

“The number one risk for this organisation was the toxicity of its lead patron’s brand,” Chandauka told the Financial Times.

Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso founded Sentebale, meaning “forget me not”, in 2006 to help young people affected by Aids in southern Africa with healthcare and education.

The charity’s future was thrown into doubt on Tuesday when the co-founders announced they were stepping away from Sentebale after the trustees tried and failed to remove Chandauka as chair.

“The relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation,” the pair said in a joint statement.

“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.

“We will be sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about.”

Representatives for Prince Harry later strongly denied he had sought to engineer the collapse of the charity in order to rescue it.

Chandauka, a Zimbabwe-born and London-trained lawyer, had previously served on the board of trustees between 2008 and 2014 before her appointment to chair in 2023. She has held roles at Meta and Morgan Stanley and now leads a life sciences company in New York.

She told the FT that as Sentebale’s chair she had been on a mission to transform the charity — from overhauling the charity’s culture, operations and long-term strategy, with a focus on US fundraising.

Chandauka said she also moved to widen its remit to include climate resilience and wealth inequality, while shifting more decision-making to leaders in southern Africa.

“The way the organisation had been set up in 2006, was no longer appropriate in 2023 in a post-Black Lives Matter world,” said Chandauka. “Funders were asking for locally led initiatives.”

The transition had triggered friction between UK-based staff and those in Lesotho, where most of the charity’s 500-plus workforce are based, and Botswana, Chandauka said.

The board felt “a loss of power and control and influence . . . oh my goodness, the Africans are taking over”.

Chandauka added that during her time as chair she experienced “disrespect, bullying and intimidation” and “misogyny and misogynoir (misogyny directed at Black women)”, allegations that have been vehemently denied. There is no suggestion that Princes Harry or Seeiso were alleged to have behaved in this way.

Kelello Lerotholi, one of the trustees who resigned this week, told Sky News he did not recognise the allegations: “I can honestly say, in the meetings I was present in, there was never even a hint of such.”

Baroness Lynda Chalker of Wallasey, who served as a trustee for nearly two decades until November, told The Times on Thursday Chandauka’s “almost dictatorial” style had led to clashes.

Tensions came to a head in February when trustees sought Chandauka’s resignation, blaming her for the charity losing out on funding while simultaneously increasing spending on consultants, according to people familiar with the matter.

Chandauka said she had filed a report to the Charity Commission that month. “I view the request for my resignation as being a direct response to my raising significant concerns regarding the Charity’s current governance, management and administration,” she wrote in the complaint, seen by the FT.

On March 5, Chandauka took the dramatic step of applying to the UK High Court to try and block a boardroom vote to remove her. “They thought I wouldn’t have the audacity to proceed with a court action,” she said.

The newly formed board of Sentebale includes Iain Rawlinson, a financier who was previously chair of Prince William’s conservation charity Tusk Trust and has been advising Chandauka.

He told the FT there had been a concerted effort by certain trustees “to destabilise and remove Sophie” from her position.

The origins of the dispute have been highly contested by both sides. Chandauka said she first felt tension between Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and herself in April 2024.

Chandauka said she had refused what she described as a request by the royal’s team to defend his wife, Meghan, in the media after negative coverage of her. “I said no, we’re not setting a precedent by which we become an extension of the Sussex PR machine,” she said.

She argued that the volatile public sentiment around Prince Harry since his move to the US and media fallout after the release of a Netflix documentary in 2022 and his book in 2023 had an impact on the charity’s ability to diversify its donor pool and make senior hires.

“When you start to interview people, they’re asking questions about, well, these mixed messages around the patron,” she said.

A person familiar with the trustees’ account of events said: “The charity has been almost entirely reliant on the positive view of Prince Harry to raise funds.”

They said the dispute had nothing to do with personal tensions: “There are real issues at hand that have been raised and not addressed.

“The trustees tried to negotiate this privately and requested she consider her position due to their lack of trust and confidence in her as a leader.”

The person added: “The trustees were supportive of moving fundraising towards America, the problem was she failed to do that.”

Lawyers for Prince Harry said there had been a breakdown in relations between the chair and key individuals, including some staff, trustees and major funders.

Prince Harry has over the years provided direct funding for the charity, including $1.5mn from the sale of his book Spare, 2022 accounts show. Latest available figures show total income in August 2023 stood at £3.4mn, down from £4.5mn a year earlier.

A Charity Commission spokesperson 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.”

Representatives for Prince Seeiso were contacted for comment.

Chandauka told the FT the public row had been stressful for the charity’s staff. “The team is not equipped to deal with this glare.”

But she added that her message to Sentebele’s former patrons was: “The team is resolved that Sentebele will live on, with or without you.”