Prince Harry devastated by ‘hostile takeover' of Sentebale Charity
Sentebale is the charity he co-founded to support children affected by HIV/AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana.
The Duke of Sussex spent hours on late-night calls from his home in California, expressing deep frustration to supporters over the situation.
It has been marked by conflict with the charity's current chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, according to Page Six.
Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho founded Sentebale in 2006, inspired by their late mothers and Harry's experience during a gap year in Lesotho.
The charity name means 'forget-me-not' in Sesotho. The charity has worked to aid children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS and struggling with mental health challenges.
Despite stepping back as a working royal, Harry continued his commitment to Sentebale. This included directing half of his share from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and part of his memoir proceeds towards it.
The dispute arose when Harry and some trustees resigned from Sentebale in March 2025, citing a breakdown in trust and confidence in the chair, Dr Chandauka.
She then publicly accused Harry and the trustees of poor governance and other issues, including bullying, harassment, misogyny, and misogynoir. This is a term that describes anti-Black misogyny.
However, the Charity Commission for England and Wales conducted an investigation and found no evidence of widespread bullying, harassment, or misogyny within Sentebale.
The Commission's report criticised the charity's governance structures but cleared both Harry and Dr Chandauka of wrongdoing.
The Charity Commission's findings highlight governance issues and the need for clearer delegation of responsibilities within Sentebale.
Despite this, Dr Chandauka remains chair. Harry expressed that he would not work with the charity again as long as she and her chosen trustees remain in power.
A spokesperson for Harry explained, 'The Duke is… deeply upset by this entire ordeal, though he remains committed to continuing the work he began 19 years ago.
He still wants to support the children of Lesotho and Botswana living with HIV/AIDS and struggling with mental health issues'.
Dr Chandauka responded to the Charity Commission's findings by reaffirming her stance that Harry launched a damaging media attack against her following his resignation.
However, the charity regulator found no merit in claims of misconduct. 'Their report falls troublingly short in many regards, primarily the fact that the consequences of the current Chair's actions will not be borne by her.
The issues surrounding Sentebale resonate given the regional vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and the importance of robust charity governance.
The charity's leadership, now including an interim executive director based in Johannesburg, is critical for the continuation of vital support to vulnerable children in Southern Africa.
With Lesotho neighbouring South Africa and sharing similar health challenges, the future of Sentebale carries significant regional weight.
The Charity Commission's concluding remarks urged all parties to move forward in the charity's best interest. They highlighted the need for unity to preserve Sentebale's mission.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry appears to be exploring new philanthropic avenues to continue his dedication to these causes. He remains cautious about re-engaging with Sentebale under the current leadership.
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They will be considering a range of criteria, Tsedu said, including how beneficial the research might be for the South African health system, and how heavily the project was impacted by the US funding cuts. They will also consider how an SAMRC grant could 'be leveraged for future sustainability of the project, personnel or unit,' he said. AN ENDLESS BACK AND FORTH The job of the SAMRC steering committee will likely be made a lot more complicated by the erratic policy changes within the NIH. On 25 March, the body sent a memo to staff, – leaked to Nature and Bhekisisa – instructing them to hold all funding awards to researchers in South Africa. After this, numerous researchers in the country said they couldn't renew their grants. However, last month, Science reported that a new memo had been sent to NIH staff which said that while South African researchers still couldn't get new grants, active awards could be resumed. Since then, some funds appear to be trickling back into the country, but certainly not all. For instance, Spotlight and GroundUp spoke to one researcher who had two active NIH awards before the cuts. He stated that one of these was resumed last month, while the other is still paused. Bekker also told us that she had heard of one or two research grants being resumed in the last week, though she said the bulk of active awards to South Africa are still pending. 'Where people are the prime recipients [of an NIH grant] without a subawardee, there seems to be a queue and backlog but some [of those awards] are coming through,' said Bekker. 'But how long this is going to take and when it might come through we're waiting to hear.' She said a strategy might be to apply for the SAMRC bridging funding and 'if by some miracle the [NIH funding is resumed]' then researchers could then presumably retract their SAMRC application. In the meantime, health researchers will have to continue spending their time working out how to respond to the abrupt and increasingly confusing changes to funding guidelines that have dogged them since Trump assumed office. 'It's such a dreadful waste of energy,' said Bekker. 'If we were just getting on with the research, it would be so much better.' Co-published by Spotlight and GroundUp
