The president of an African charity organization co-founded by Prince Harry accused the royal member on Sunday of orchestrating a campaign of harassment and intimidation to try to force her out while she was responding to Harry’s abrupt resignation from the organization.
Sophie Chandauka, president of Sentebale, launched several criticisms against Harry on Sky News, where she described how the prince’s deal with Netflix interfered with a scheduled fundraising event and how an incident involving his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, became a source of friction.
The Duke of Sussex cited a breakdown in the relationship between the board members and Chandauka when he resigned on Tuesday as patron of the charity organization he co-founded almost 20 years ago in memory of his late mother, Princess Diana.
Harry and co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, said in a joint statement that they have resigned “with heavy hearts” as patrons in support of the trustees in their dispute with Chandauka.
“The princes said, ‘It is devastating that the relationship between the charity trustees and the board president has irreparably broken down, creating an unsustainable situation.’ In turn, she sued the charity to remain in this voluntary position, further highlighting the broken relationship.”
Chandauka said that she informed the trustees of Sentebale to the Charity Commission in the UK and submitted documents to a British court to prevent her dismissal.
She alleged misconduct within the charity organization without naming anyone or providing details in a statement on Tuesday. She said she had tried to report “abuse of power, harassment, intimidation, misogyny, and misogynoir”, the latter word referring to a combination of racism and misogyny directed towards black women.
Chandauka told Sky that Harry’s resignation took her by surprise and was “an example of large-scale harassment and intimidation.” She claimed that he also interfered with her complaint.
“So it’s a cover-up, and the prince is involved,” he said.
Chandauka mentioned that there was a significant drop in donors after Harry and Meghan stepped back from their official royal duties in January 2020 and eventually settled in California.
The charity organization, whose name means “do not forget me” in the Sesotho language of Lesotho and South Africa, was founded to help young people affected by AIDS in the small mountainous nation and in Botswana. But now it is moving to address the health, wealth, and climate resilience of young people in southern Africa.
The biggest risk for the charity was the “toxicity of the brand of its main patron,” Chandauka told the Financial Times.
In the interview with Sky, it was mentioned that a fundraising polo event scheduled in Miami last year almost fell apart when Harry requested to bring a team of cameras that were filming him for a Netflix series about the sport.
The cost of the venue skyrocketed when it became a commercial enterprise and they had to look for another host, which Enrique organized through his connections, he said.
Meghan’s surprise appearance at the event led to an awkward moment during the trophy presentation after the game, Chandauka commented.
In a video clip that circulated on social media, Chandauka tried to pose next to the duke while he held the trophy in one hand and had the other around Meghan. But the duchess seemed to gesture for Chandauka to move away from Harry, forcing her to crouch under the silver cup to get in the photo.
“The international press captured this, and there was a lot of debate about the duchess and the choreography on stage and whether she should have been there and her treatment towards me,” Chandauka said.
He stated that he rejected Enrique’s request to issue a statement in support of Meghan, because “we cannot be an extension of the Sussexes”.
Sky News reported that they reached out to Harry and Meghan, but they declined to provide a formal response.