In a Sunday TV interview, the chairperson of a charity that Prince Harry co-founded accused him of “harassment and bullying at scale” following his and other charity members’ resignations this week.
Sentebale chairwoman Sophie Chandauka claimed that earlier this week, the Duke of Sussex officially resigned from his position as a patron of the charity, along with co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho and the board of trustees, unleashing “the Sussex (PR) machine” on her.
In an interview with Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, she stated, “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.”
Additionally, she said, “Can you imagine the impact that attack has had on me, the 540 members of the Sentebale organisation, and their families? That exemplifies widespread bullying and harassment.”
They “fully expected this publicity stunt and reached their collective decision (to quit) with this in mind,” according to a source close to the charity’s patrons and trustees.
“They are steadfast in their resignation, for the benefit of the charity, and they anticipate the truth being determined,” the source told CNN.
The source hinted that Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso both sent resignation letters to the chairwoman and trustees on March 10, refuting Chandauka’s assertion that the media was aware of the quits before the charity.
Chandauka, in a different interview that was released on Saturday, said that Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso “want to force a failure and then come to the rescue” of the organisation.
She told the Financial Times that there had been conflict between the charity’s employees in Lesotho and Botswana and those in the UK, though the details of the dispute remain unclear.
She claimed that this resulted from her attempts to change the charity and give Southern African leaders more influence over decisions.
Prince Harry, who founded the charity in 2006 to support young people in Lesotho and Botswana living with HIV and AIDS, said he was “in shock” when he decided to quit it. The Duke of Sussex co-founded Sentebale in honour of his mother, Princess Diana, nine years after she was killed in a Paris car crash.
Prince Harry and his co-founder released a statement on Wednesday stating that they had resigned from their positions “until further notice” and that they did so “with heavy hearts.”
Earlier this week, Chandauka seemed to criticise the 40-year-old royal for “playing the victim card” in her statement.
As reported by Britain’s PA Media news agency, she stated in the statement, “Everything I do at Sentebale is in pursuit of the integrity of the organisation, its mission, and the young people we serve.”
She continued by characterising the situation as “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, and misogynoir—and the coverup that ensued.”
