Prince Harry’s alleged harsh message to African charity boss for not defending Meghan Markle: “Explain yourself”

Sophie Chandauka, the chair of Sentebale, a charity Prince Harry set up to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana has accused him of “harassment and bullying at scale” after he quit this week over a dispute he described as “devastating”.

Speaking to UK outlet Sky News, Chandauka said, that 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.”

A source close to the charity’s trustees and patrons, including Harry, said they fully expected what they described as a publicity stunt and reached their collective decision with this in mind.

The same source said they remained firm in their decision to resign.

Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho said in a joint statement on Wednesday that it was “devastating” that the relationship between the charity’s trustees and Chandauka had broken beyond repair.

Chandauka has previously said Sentebale was beset by “poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny (and) misogynoir”.

In an interview with the Financial Times published last Saturday, she said she was asked by Harry’s team to protect Meghan after negative media coverage, which she refused to do.

She also said the way Sentebale was run “was no longer appropriate in 2023 in a post-Black Lives Matter world ... funders were asking for locally-led initiatives”.

Harry and Seeiso said on Wednesday that the trustees acted in the charity’s best interests in asking Chandauka to step down, but in turn she sued Sentebale to remain in her position.

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