Chairwoman of charity founded by Harry accuses him of ‘bullying and harassment’

The head of a charity founded by the Duke of Sussex has accused him of trying to “eject” her through “bullying” and “harassment”.

Harry announced on Tuesday that he and several trustees had quit Sentebale, the charity he set up with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, amid a boardroom battle within the organisation.

Sophie Chandauka, who has been chairwoman of Sentebale since 2023, accused the duke of being “involved” in a “cover-up” of an investigation about bullying, harassment and misogyny at the organisation and said the “toxicity” of his “brand” had impacted the charity.

A source close to the former trustees and patrons of Sentebale dismissed Ms Chandauka’s comments as a “publicity stunt”.

Speaking on Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme, Ms Chandauka said: “Really, what Prince Harry wanted to do was to eject me from the organisation and this went on for months.

“It went on for months through bullying, harassment. I have documentation.

“There were board meetings where members of the executive team and external strategic advisors were sending me messages saying, ‘Should I interrupt? Should I stop this? Oh my gosh, this is so bad’.

“In fact, our strategic adviser for fundraising then sent me a message saying she wouldn’t want to ever attend any more board meetings or bring her colleagues because of the treatment.

“When that failed, Prince Harry started to brief, and his team, sponsors that I’ve been speaking to, against me and the charity because that is a sure way of getting me out if it’s seen as though I’m not being successful in my fundraising efforts.”

Asked about reports trustees had lost confidence in her leadership and whether she was “the problem”, rather than Harry, Dr Chandauka said: “It was me who was the problem, because I put a whistleblower complaint about the bullying, the harassment and the misogyny, and Prince Harry interfered in the investigation of that.

“And the senior independent director, who should have taken care of it, was the very same person who then delivered the news to me that I was going to be removed by the board.

“So it’s a cover-up, and the prince is involved.”

Ms Chandauka also criticised the manner of Harry’s resignation, saying his decision to publicly release the news before informing her amounted to “harassment and bullying at scale”.

She said: “The only reason I’m here is because at some point on Tuesday, Prince Harry authorised the release of a damaging piece of news to the outside world without informing me or my country directors, or my executive director.

“And can you imagine what that attack has done for me, on me and the 540 individuals in the Sentebale organisations and their family?

“That is an example of harassment and bullying at scale.”

In a separate interview with the Financial Times, Ms Chandauka defended her record at the charity and claimed she had experienced “disrespect, bullying and intimidation” and “misogyny and misogynoir” in her role.

She also claimed public sentiment around Harry since he moved to the US, as well as media coverage following the release of a 2022 Netflix documentary about his relationship with the Duchess of Sussex and his 2023 autobiography Spare, had impacted the charity’s ability to reach new donors and hire senior staff.

In a joint statement announcing their resignation earlier this week, Harry and Prince Seeiso said they had stepped back until further notice, saying it was “devastating” that the relationship between Sentebale’s trustees and chairwoman of the board “broke down beyond repair”.

According to The Times newspaper, the dispute arose around a decision to focus fundraising in Africa.

Former trustees Timothy Boucher, Mark Dyer, Audrey Kgosidintsi, Kelello Lerotholi and Damian West said their decision to resign was “devastating” but was the “result of our loss in trust and confidence in the chair of the board”.

A source close to the trustees and patrons described Ms Chandauka’s interviews as a “publicity stunt”, adding: “They remain firm in their resignation, for the good of the charity, and look forward to the adjudication of the truth.”

The Charity Commission said it was “aware of concerns about the governance” of Sentebale.

“We are assessing the issues to determine the appropriate regulatory steps,” the commission added.

Harry’s two-month trip to the kingdom of Lesotho during his gap year aged 19 inspired him to establish the charity two years later in honour of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

The young duke came face-to-face with Aids orphans, met other traumatised young people and visited herd boys living a harsh existence looking after cattle in remote mountain areas.

The duke and Sentebale have been approached for comment.