Prince Harry’s charity shuts down after 20 years over ego fights; board members quit

After nearly twenty years, Prince Harry has shut down Sentebale, a charity he co-founded in 2006 in memory of his mother, Princess Diana, to benefit orphaned African children.

Harry had co-founded Sentebale with his friend Prince Seeiso of Lesotho.

According to media reports, the charity had suffered ego wars amid allegations of harassment and misogyny by board chair Sophie Chandauka, forcing the trustees of the charity to resign unanimously.

In a statement to The Times, the Royal duo declared that they are siding with the trustees, who had acted in the best interest of the charity, in a row that has created an “untenable situation”.

What has board chair Sophie Chandauka alleged?

Sophie Chandauka, who was appointed as Sentebale's board chair last year, alleged that she was faced with “bullying, harassment, misogyny, and misogynoir”, along with issues of poor governance, weak executive management, and abuse of power at Prine Harry's charity.

She told The Sun that the Sentebale trustees “behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people,” blaming them for playing the victim card and using the press to “harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct.”

Speaking to The Sun, the Zimbabwean lawyer said she had acted with integrity as a "proud African" despite it all.

She is understood to be suing the trustees over calls for her to stand down from the post.

Here's what Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso said in their statement:

In their statement, which is yet to be publicly released, the founders of Sentebale – Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso – said: “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.”

“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.”

“What’s transpired is unthinkable,” the Princes' said, adding that they are in shock to 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”.

What did the trustees say?

In a statement to The Times, former Sentebale trustees – Timothy Boucher, Mark Dyer, Audrey Kgosidintsi, Kelello Lerotholi and Damian West – said that Chandauka's lawsuit had been initiated to “block us from voting her out”.

What's next for Sentebale?

A spokesperson for Sentebale said the charity is restructuring the Board on 25 March 2025 to introduce experts with the capabilities and networks to accelerate its transformation agenda, as announced last year.

According to The Sun, Sentebale has not received formal resignations from either of the royal patrons.

However, the Charity Commission has confirmed that an investigation is underway into the charity, which was set up to support those living with HIV and Aids in Africa.

“We can confirm that we are aware of concerns about the governance of Sentebale,” a spokesperson told The Sun.