Prince Harry has stepped down from Sentebale, the charity he helped found in 2006.
The Duke of Sussex exited the charity along with his cofounder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, as well as several trustees, amid reports of in-fighting on the board.
Harry released a statement saying that the relationship between chair of the board, Dr. Sophie Chandauka (who was appointed in July 2023) and the trustees "broke down beyond repair" after she was asked to resign and then took legal action, per the BBC.
Apparently, Dr. Chandauka had "blown the whistle" on the trustees to the UK Charity Commission, citing—as the BBC put it—"issues including abuse of power, bullying, sexism and racism."
Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso released a joint statement saying they were resigning with "heavy hearts" and in "solidarity with the board of trustees," explaining that "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."
They added, per Us Weekly, “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.”
Dr. Chandauka also released a statement, saying in part that "There are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct." Dr. Chandauka added that this 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, misogynoir [discrimination against black women] - and the coverup that ensued".
She also noted that her work with Sentebale is "not a vanity project from which I can resign when I am called to account."
Per the BBC, "the trustees and princes have not responded directly to her allegations."
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.
