Dr. Sophie Chandauka, chair of Sentebale—a charity co-founded by Prince Harry to support children and adolescents affected by HIV and AIDS—has accused the Duke of Sussex of "harassment
and bullying at scale" following a wave of resignations from the organization earlier this week.
In an interview with Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Dr. Chandauka claimed Prince Harry authorized the release of a damaging news item without informing her or the charity's leadership team. “That is an example of harassment and bullying at scale,” she said, referring to the incident that occurred on Tuesday.
That same day, Prince Harry announced his resignation as patron of Sentebale. In a joint statement with co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, the two said they were stepping down “in support of and solidarity with” the board of trustees, who had also resigned. The departures followed an internal dispute with Chandauka, reportedly centered on fundraising priorities in Africa.
Harry and Seeiso stated that their relationship with Chandauka had “broken down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation.”
A source described as being close to the former trustees told Sky News that Chandauka’s accusations of bullying and the involvement of the so-called “Sussex machine” were “completely baseless.”
In a previous statement, Chandauka strongly criticized the handling of governance at Sentebale and 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...”
She continued, “Beneath all the victim narrative and fiction that has been syndicated to the 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.”
Founded by Prince Harry in 2006 after a visit to Lesotho in 2004, Sentebale has long been one of his most personal philanthropic ventures. His departure comes five years after he spoke emotionally at a Sentebale event, thanking the charity for its support following the death of his mother.
Representatives for Prince Harry have not yet responded publicly to the recent allegations. Photo by DoD News, Wikimedia commons.
