The chairperson of an African charity co-founded by Prince Harry has accused the royal of orchestrating a “harassment and bullying” marketing campaign to attempt to pressure her out as she pushed again following his resignation from the organization earlier this week.
On Sunday, Sophie Chandauka, the Sentebale chair, told Sky News that the Duke of Sussex unleashed “the Sussex (PR) machine” on her when he publicly resigned from the charity as a patron of Sentebale, an African charity he co-founded practically 20 years in the past to assist younger folks with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana.
“The one motive I’m right here… is as a result of in some unspecified time in the future on Tuesday, Prince Harry licensed the discharge of a dangerous piece of reports to the skin world with out informing me or my nation administrators, or my government director,” Chandauka informed the outlet.
“And may you think about what that assault has performed for me, on me and the 540 people within the Sentebale organizations and their household?” she stated, including, “That’s an instance of harassment and bullying at scale.”
Chandauka described how the prince’s Netflix deal interfered with a scheduled fundraiser and the way an incident along with his spouse, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, grew to become a supply of friction.
She informed the outlet {that a} polo fundraiser scheduled in Miami final 12 months virtually fell aside when Harry requested to convey a digital camera crew alongside that was filming him for a Netflix collection.
The price of the venue skyrocketed when it grew to become a business enterprise they usually scrambled to seek out one other host, which Harry organized by his connections, she stated.
Meghan’s shock look on the occasion led to a clumsy second through the trophy presentation after the match, Chandauka stated.
In a video that circulated on social media, Chandauka tried to pose subsequent to Harry as he held the trophy in a single hand and had his different wrapped round Meghan. However the duchess appeared to gesture that Chandauka transfer farther from Harry, forcing her to duck below the silver cup to get into the photograph.
The Duchess of Sussex presents the trophy to her husband, the Duke of Sussex after his workforce the Royal Salute Sentebale Workforce defeated the Grand Champions Workforce, within the Royal Salute Polo Problem, to learn Sentebale, at The USPA Nationwide Polo Heart in Wellington, Fla.. Image date: Friday April 12, 2024.
Yaroslav Sabitov/PA Pictures through Getty Pictures
“The worldwide press captured this, and there was a number of discuss concerning the duchess and the choreography on stage and whether or not she ought to have been there and her remedy of me,” Chandauka stated.
She stated she rejected Harry’s request that she concern a press release in help of Meghan, as a result of “we can’t be an extension of the Sussexes.” (Harry and Meghan declined to supply a proper response to Sky Information with reference to Chandauka’s claims.)
Earlier this week, the Duke of Sussex said the reason for his resignation from the charity was on account of battle between members of the board and Chandauka, the chair of the board who refused to step down and sued the charity to be able to retain her place.
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Prince Seeiso, who co-founded the charity with Harry, and the board of trustees additionally joined Harry in leaving Sentebale following the breakdown of the connection between board members and Chandauka.
Chandauka said she had reported Sentebale’s trustees to the Charity Fee, a authorities division within the U.Ok. that regulates philanthropic organizations, and had filed papers in a British court docket to forestall her removing.
In a press release, she made allegations of misconduct on the charity with out naming anybody.
“There are folks on this world who behave as if they’re above the legislation and mistreat folks, after which play the sufferer card and use the very press they disdain to hurt individuals who have the braveness to problem their conduct,” Chandauka stated.
This, she stated, was the “story of a lady who dared to blow the whistle about problems with poor governance, weak government administration, abuse of energy, bullying, harassment, misogyny and misogynoir — and the cover-up that ensued.”
When talking with Sky Information, Chandauka stated Harry had interfered together with her whistleblower grievance. “So it’s a cover-up, and the prince is concerned,” she stated.
Chanduaka additionally alleged that there was a major drop in donors after Harry and Meghan left official royal duties in January 2020, and ultimately settled in California.
The most important danger to the charity was the “toxicity of its lead patron’s model,” Chandauka told the Financial Times.
Dr Sophie Chandauka MBE, Chair of Sentebale, Nacho Figueras, Sentebale Ambassador and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Co-Founding Patron of Sentebale, pose for a photograph through the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup on August 12, 2023 in Singapore.
Matt Jelonek/Getty Pictures for Sentebale
Prince Harry co-founded Sentebale in reminiscence of his late mom, Princess Diana, with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006 after he hung out working at an orphanage in Lesotho throughout a spot 12 months.
In a joint assertion on March 26, the princes stated, “What’s transpired is unthinkable. We’re in shock that now we have to do that, however now we have a continued duty to Sentebale’s beneficiaries, so we can be sharing all of our issues with the Charity Fee as to how this took place.”
“Practically 20 years in the past, we based Sentebale in honor of our moms. Sentebale means ‘forget-me-not’ in Sesotho, the native language of Lesotho, and it’s what we’ve all the time promised for the younger folks we’ve served by this charity. At this time is not any totally different.”
“With heavy hearts, now we have resigned from our roles as patrons of the group till additional discover, in help of and solidarity with the board of trustees who’ve needed to do the identical,” they continued. “It’s devastating that the connection between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down past restore, creating an untenable scenario.”
“These trustees acted in the perfect curiosity of the charity in asking the chair to step down whereas holding the well-being of employees in thoughts. In flip, she sued the charity to stay on this voluntary place, additional underscoring the damaged relationship,” the princes’ assertion continued.
Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso thanked the trustees for his or her “service over time” and stated they’re “really heartbroken they’ve needed to comply with by with this act.”
“Though we might not be patrons, we’ll all the time be its founders, and we’ll always remember what this charity is able to attaining when it’s in the suitable care,” they concluded.
BBC reported that the Charity Commission stated it was “conscious of issues concerning the governance” of Sentebale, which is registered within the U.Ok.
“We’re assessing the problems to find out the suitable regulatory steps,” the fee added.
After Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso introduced their resignation, Sentebale shared a statement on social media to let their followers know that “the work continues as a result of they deserve nothing much less.”
“It’s the unbelievable groups on the bottom — our employees and native companions — who convey our mission to life on daily basis, strolling alongside the youngsters and younger folks we serve,” the assertion started.
“Whereas Trustees are key for governance and regulation, and Patrons — particularly Founders — are an honour to have, it’s the folks within the discipline who’re advancing the work, it doesn’t matter what,” the assertion continued. “Our dedication to supporting youth in Southern Africa with higher well being, stronger livelihoods, and local weather resilience stays as sturdy as ever.”
— With information from The Related Press
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