Prince Harry steps down from own charitable organisation Sentebale amid explosive accusations

Prince Harry has stepped down from a charity he founded amid explosive accusations of misogyny and racism between the chair and the board of trustees.

The Duke of Sussex co-founded the charity Sentebale in 2006 with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. It was formed in memory of his late mother, Princess Diana, to help tackle poverty and AIDS in African nations.

But Harry and Seeiso have now sensationally walked away from the charity — along with the entire board of trustees — after the relationship between the board and the chair, Zimbabwean lawyer Sophie Chandauka, broke down.

The trustees questioned whether Dr Chandauka was the right person to chair the board and asked her to step down. Dr Chandauka responded by suing the trustees, winning an injunction against them removing her, and releasing an explosive statement.

The issue came to a head over a planned change to Sentebale that would shift its fundraising operations to Africa.

Dr Chandauka’s statement blasted the trustees in a pointed statement directed at the Duke of Sussex.

She claimed there was a “cover-up” at the charity, and raised allegations of “weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, and misogynoir”.

Misogynoir is a statement used to describe entrenched discrimination against black women.

“Everything I do at Sentebale is in pursuit of the integrity of the organisation, its mission, and the young people we serve. My actions are guided by the principles of fairness and equitable treatment for all, regardless of social status or financial means,” Dr Chandauka said.

“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.

“Discerning readers will ask themselves: why would the chair of the board report her own trustees to the Charity Commission? Why would the high court of England and Wales hear her case and issue an emergency injunction to prevent the same trustees from removing her as the chair of the board?

“Well, because beneath all the victim narrative and fiction that has been syndicated to press 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 — and the cover-up that ensued.”

Princes Harry and Seeiso’s statement said the pair were “heartbroken” and labelled what had transpired as “unthinkable”.

“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,” they said..

“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.”

The UK’s Charity Commission has since confirmed it was aware of “governance concerns” at Sentebale and would “assess the issues”.