Over the past year or so, there’s been a lot of drama within Sentebale, the Lesotho charity which was started by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso in 2006. Sentebale’s mission is supporting the children of Lesotho, mostly through funding health and education programs within the kingdom. Harry and Seesio have always been very involved in Sentebale, and Harry’s charity polo events are always fundraisers in support of Sentebale. Well, both Harry and Seesio are now resigning from the charity they founded, and they’re following the resignations of the board of trustees. There’s been a huge dispute, with the board of trustees and the princes on one side versus the chairwoman of the charity, Sophie Chandauka. The board asked Chandauka to step down after she made some horrendous decisions for Sentebale, and she refused, so now everyone is resigning. This story is insane and it’s wild to see everyone twist it around so it sounds like Harry is to blame in some way.
The Duke of Sussex has made the “devastating” decision to resign from his charity Sentebale amid “unthinkable” infighting in the organisation. Prince Harry, who established the African charity in 2006, has quit in solidarity with his co-founder and the entire board of trustees after “the relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation”.
In an extraordinary joint statement which is yet to be officially released, Harry and his co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho wrote: “What’s transpired is unthinkable. We are in shock that we have to do this.” Sentebale, which means “Forget me not”, is in a state of crisis and The Times understands that it is now the subject of a Charity Commission investigation.
In a joint statement, Harry and Seesio said: “Nearly 20 years ago, we founded Sentebale in honour of our mothers. Sentebale means ‘forget-me-not’ in Sesotho, the local language of Lesotho, and it’s what we’ve always promised for the young people we’ve served through this charity. Today is no different. 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.”
It is understood that the row is centred around the chair of the board of trustees and a decision to focus fundraising largely in Africa. Sophie Chandauka, a Zimbabwe-born lawyer, was appointed to the post last year and is understood to be suing the trustees after they questioned whether she was best placed to chair the board. Siding with the departing trustees, the princes’ statement 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. In turn, she sued the charity to remain in this voluntary position, further underscoring the broken relationship. We thank all the trustees for their service over the years and are truly heartbroken they’ve had to follow through with this act.”
“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. Although we may no longer be patrons, we will always be its founders, and we will never forget what this charity is capable of achieving when it is in the right care.”
The Charity Commission confirmed on Tuesday that an investigation was under way. A spokesman 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.”
Chandauka has refused to step down, forcing the resignation of the charity’s trustees including Mark Dyer, who served as an equerry to the King in the 1990s and has been a lifelong friend of Prince Harry.
Peppered within this report (and other reporting) are quotes and statements from “a Sentebale spokesperson” – which means Chandauka and the few remaining staff of Sentebale. As Harry and Seesio say in their statement, this is a voluntary position and Chandauka is treating Sentebale like it’s her own personal fiefdom, refusing to resign even with the resignations of the entire board of trustees AND THE TWO FOUNDERS. (Something is pinging on my conspiracy radar, but it’s going to take a minute to put everything together.)
Photos courtesy of Getty.