The Duke of Sussex has resigned from a charity he set up after a row between the trustees and the chair of its board.
Prince Harry co-founded Sentebale in 2006 in honour of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, to help people in southern Africa living with HIV and Aids.
He stepped down with his co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, and the board of trustees because its relationship with chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka “broke down beyond repair” after she was asked to resign and took legal action.
Dr Chandauka said she reported the trustees to the UK Charity Commission and had “blown the whistle” about issues including abuse of power, bullying, sexism and racism.
The Charity Commission said it was “aware of concerns about the governance” of Sentebale and is looking into them.
In a joint statement, the duke and Prince Seeiso said they were resigning from their roles with “heavy hearts” and in “solidarity with the board of trustees”.
“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 said.
They said the trustees “acted in the best interest of the charity” by asking Dr Chandauka to step down, but that her decision to take legal action to retain her position was “further underscoring the broken relationship”.
They added they would be sharing their concerns with the Charity Commission “as to how this came about”.
Former trustees Timothy Boucher, Mark Dyer, Audrey Kgosidintsi, Dr Kelello Lerotholi and Damian West described their decision as “nothing short of devastating” for all of them.
They said they had lost trust and confidence in the chairwoman but her legal action to block them from removing her meant they had no other option than to resign.
They said this was in the “best interest of the charity”, as it could not take on the “legal and financial burden” of the lawsuit.
In response, Dr Chandauka said her work at Sentebale had been “guided by the principles of fairness and equitable treatment for all”.
“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,” she said.
This, she said, was 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”.
Her work with the charity was “not a vanity project from which I can resign when I am called to account”, she added.
She said the High Court had accepted her application to hear her case.
The trustees and princes have not responded directly to her allegations.
Dr Chandauka, a corporate finance lawyer, had previously served on Sentebale’s board between 2009 and 2015 before becoming chairwoman, according to the charity’s website.
She has worked for companies such as Morgan Stanley, Meta and Virgin Money, and was appointed an MBE for her contributions to diversity in business in 2021.
The charity itself said it had “not received resignations from either Royal Patron”, but it did confirm a “restructuring” of its board on Tuesday.
It said it was looking to bring in more experts “with the capabilities and networks to accelerate Sentebale’s transformation agenda”.
The charity added that it had announced plans last April to move from being a development organisation addressing the impact of HIV and Aids on children and young people in Lesotho and Botswana to “one that is addressing issues of youth health, wealth and climate resilience in Southern Africa”.
“The recalibration of the board is, therefore, part of Sentebale’s ambitious transformation agenda,” the charity added.
The Charity Commission said it was “aware of concerns” over Sentebale’s governance, adding: “We are assessing the issues to determine the appropriate regulatory steps.”
