Last week, on March 26, Prince Harry made a surprising decision and resigned from his role as patron of Sentebale, a Lesotho-based HIV and Aids charity that he established in 2006 in honor of his mom, Princess Diana. Now, the chair of the board of Sentebale, Dr Sophie Chandauka, is speaking out and going after Harry.
This drama first went public on March 26 when Harry released a statement alongside Sentebale co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. In it, the princes accused the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board of creating an “untenable situation.”
“With heavy hearts, we have resigned from our roles as patrons of the organisation until further notice, in support of and solidarity with the board of trustees who have had to do the same,” they wrote, per Sky News. “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.”
“These trustees acted in the best interest of the charity in asking the chair to step down, while keeping the well-being of staff in mind,” the statement continued. “In turn, she sued the charity to remain in this voluntary position, further underscoring the broken relationship.”
“What’s transpired is unthinkable,” they continued. “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.”
At the time, Sentebale chair Dr Sophie Chandauka already fought back.
“Beneath all the victim narrative and fiction that has been syndicated to [the] 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 and misogynoir,” Chandauka said.
Most recently, Chandauka made an appearance on Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.
“The only reason I’m here… is because at some point on Tuesday, Prince Harry authorised 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. “And can you imagine what that attack has done for me, on me and the 540 individuals in the Sentebale organisations and their family?”
“That is an example of harassment and bullying at scale,” she stated.
According to The New York Times, a spokesperson for Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, declined to comment on Chandauka’s latest claims. More drama will surely follow.
Before you go, click here to see more of Meghan Markle & Prince Harry’s milestones since leaving the royal family.
