Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has tendered his resignation from a charity he set up in Africa two decades ago, citing his “shock” over reported infighting in the organisation. His statement said he was “truly heartbroken”, according to media reports.
Prince Harry, along with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, set up the charity organisation, Sentebale, in Lesotho in 2006 in memory of his mother, Princess Diana. Reports said both Harry and Seeiso stepped down as patrons Tuesday until further notice. Their decision follows resignations by trustees of the organisation — Timothy Boucher, Mark Dyer, Audrey Kgosidintsi, Kelello Lerotholi, and Damian West — over an alleged dispute with Dr Sophie Chandauka, the chair of the charity appointed in 2023.
According to a report in The Times, a decision to focus on fundraising in Africa triggered the dispute.
Sentebale means “Forget me not”, and it aimed to help the people of Lesotho and Botswana who were suffering poverty, and those living with HIV and AIDS.
“Since our founding in 2006, we have been driven by solutions informed by children, their caregivers and the young people we serve, to address both deep-seated systemic issues and individual needs of the moment… We call this The Sentebale Way,” the charity says on its website.
A report in The Guardian quoted a spokesperson for the charity to say it has not received the resignations from the royal patrons.
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We Are In Shock: Prince Harry And Prince Seeiso
In their statement, as reported by various news publictions, Harry and Seeiso said: “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.”
They said Chandauka, in turn, sued the charity to retain her “voluntary position, further underscoring the broken relationship”.
Thanking the trustees for the work done by them all these years, Harry and Seeiso said they are “truly heartbroken” that they had to step down.
“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.”
Earlier, the five trustees announced their decision in a joint statement, stating that they were unanimously resigning as board members.
“Today’s decision is nothing short of devastating for all of us, but we see no other path forward as the result of our loss in trust and confidence in the chair of the board,” the statement read, according to the Guardian report.
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Real Story Buried Beneath Victim Narrative, Media Spin: Sentebale Chair
Meanwhile, the charity spokesperson said: “We are pleased to confirm the restructuring of our board on 25 March 2025 to introduce experts with the capabilities and networks to accelerate Sentebale’s transformation agenda as announced last year.”
Chandauka, in her response, said the real story was buried beneath a “victim narrative” and media spin, and that she was being targeted because she was a woman who dared to speak out about serious issues within the organisation — “poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir”.
“There are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct,” she said in her statement, as reported by The Guardian.
According to a BBC report, Chandauka had reported Sentebale to the UK Charity Commission, and the latter has said it is “aware of concerns about the governance” of the charity and is looking into the matter.
