Slowly but surely, I believe the full story of what really went down at Sentebale will eventually come out. It’s already starting to come out and I’m grateful that Prince Harry, Prince Seeiso and the now-former trustees of Sentebale are starting to get their side of the story out. There are more reports – even in British outlets – about Sophie Chandauka’s gross mismanagement of Sentebale, and how completely bizarre it is that she refused to step down as chair, and instead ran to the British tabloids and lobbed a lot of insults and veiled threats at Prince Harry in particular. Vanity Fair’s piece on the drama was mostly a rehash, but a source close to the situation told VF that “the trustees who resigned were concerned about financial mismanagement during Chandauka’s tenure, and that the relationship began to fray starting in December.” That was just a couple of months after Harry’s visit to Lesotho.
Meanwhile, I was shocked to read this piece in the Times of London, written by royal reporter Kate Mansey. It shocked me because Mansey acknowledged that, actually, it speaks volumes that the board of trustees and the two royal patrons and co-founders had no faith in Chandauka and they all resigned in protest of HER. Mansey also published extensive comments from Dr.Kelello Lerotholi, who was one of the trustees who resigned (and he’s also Prince Seeiso’s cousin). Some highlights from this piece:
Comments from Dr. Kelello Lerotholi: One man who is beyond baffled by the situation is Dr Kelello Lerotholi, one of the trustees who recently quit alongside Seeiso and Harry, and who has been involved with the charity since its inception. Lerotholi is “worried about the emotional wellbeing of both princes” in light of the events of the past few days. He says: “I think given their commitment to the welfare of kids, they are torn apart at the thought of looking like they’re abandoning them when they know that they’re not abandoning them.”
Lerotholi regards Harry as family. He is a cousin of Seeiso and regards Harry as “family”. Lerotholi had one of the few big-screen televisions in Lesotho when Harry came to visit during his gap year in 2004. “They would go out to the mountains and so on and then come back to my place to be refreshed, watch the rugby and hang out,” he said. “It was during those trips in the very rural, remote areas where the prince took him that he really saw the dire straits and the hard situation that kids were growing up in the area.”
Harry’s fundraising for Sentebale: The board hit upon the lucrative idea of annual VIP polo matches, where they could charge rich benefactors up to $100,000 to play alongside Harry. Over time those matches would raise nearly £12 million and provided a good deal of the money required to run the charity. Harry has also topped up the coffers with charity concerts and a $1.5 million donation from the proceeds of Spare. Ten years on, the party seems to have ended. It couldn’t come at a worse time. Sentebale has already had to cut back after Trump announced that USAID would be wound up.
Chandauka began ruining Sentebale from within: A source familiar with the matter said that when Chandauka joined the organisation it “was in a stable financial position and over the course of her tenure that changed’’. The start of the problem, they said, was the “breakdown of a long-standing relationship with a key funder tied to the annual polo cup”. While a polo match went ahead last year in Miami, it was not promoted as the “Sentebale cup”. Executives started peeling away from the charity and news filtered round that perhaps things weren’t as cosy as they had been. The charity had moved to Africa and was looking at ways to increase fundraising that didn’t place the burden solely on Harry. Regular board meetings continued every other month over Zoom and soon it was clear that there were concerns. There was largely a feeling that the funds were only flowing one way — out. Those close to the situation say that money was spent on consultants “at a cost of around £500,000” and while they waited for the investment in resources to pay off, the donations “failed to come to fruition”.
Chandauka’s fundraising scheme never panned out: One former trustee who asked not to be named said: “We were not looking to pivot to fundraising in Africa but in America. Sophie Chandauka was confident she could produce this. Sadly, she spent money on consultants and her fundraising efforts brought very little success.” In December the most recent partnership deal fell through. At that stage, the board sought to act with a plan to replace the chair.
Lerotholi on Chandauka’s bizarre, accusatory statement: “I look on in horror today at the content of the statement, you know, and the allegations made about misogyny and all of that. I can honestly say that, first of all, professionally, in the primary health care work I’ve been doing, I’ve become very sensitive to those other issues of people being discriminated against and so on. I can honestly say in all the meetings that I’ve been involved in, there has been no hint of such. People have been dealing with each other respectfully. Yes, I mean, as there is with any human interaction, there will be time when voices are raised for emphasis or when people feel they’re not being heard, there will be voices raised. But there’s never been a put-down, there’s never been a dismissive tone, there’s never been, you know, at least not in my presence, any of those people being set upon and being made to feel little. I never, not in any single meeting, experienced it.”
What is Chandauka’s game plan? How can Sentebale continue to exist without the princes at the heart of the organisation. Lerotholi doesn’t understand Chandauka’s game plan. “Given how much [the princes] put of themselves and their mothers in this, if you think about this, the name Sentebale, the literal translation is forget-me-not, they clearly named this entity in memory of both their mothers, who were global mothers, I would say. And so for me, I don’t understand why if somebody takes over quote unquote the entity without them, what is that entity in remembrance of?” So, could there be a world in which Harry and Seeiso are able to seize back control of the charity? It’s possible, Lerotholi says. “They’re not adverse to working for the kids. That is their commitment and that’s what they want to see happen.” He adds: “It reminds me of the US saying: ‘We shall overcome.’”
This answers some questions we had – the polo match in Florida last year was a fundraiser for Sentebale but it wasn’t called the Sentebale Cup, which was what the annual polo fundraiser was called in years past. Remember, People Magazine also said that because of Chandauka’s actions, the Sentebale Cup lost a major sponsor, and they apparently canceled an autumn polo match because of it. The Times also says that a Sentebale Cup polo match was loosely scheduled for this November in Argentina, but it’s likely to be canceled, or perhaps it will be rebranded. I also think Lerotholi’s final point is worth repeating: what the hell is this woman’s endgame? How could Sentebale continue on without the two royal patrons and founders who started the charity in honor of their mothers? It’s frankly disgusting that Chandauka would appropriate Sentebale and continue with this hostile takeover.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
