Prince Harry resigned from his charity. Was this viral photo op in Florida to blame?

Miami Herald

02-04-2025

Prince Harry fans freaked when he popped up unexpectedly in South Florida back in April 2024.
The first sighting was at upscale restaurant Zaytinya at the Ritz Carlton Miami Beach Hotel. The royal was attending a fundraiser for Sentebale, the charity he co-founded to help South Africa's next generation.
'Africa's in my heart, Africa's in my soul,' said the Duke at the event, whose guests included actress Mindy Kaling. 'The vast open space, the cultures, the communities, the people, the wildlife, just the freedom was a huge piece of why I loved [it] so much.'
Fans wondered at the time where Harry's wife, 'Suits' alum Meghan Markle, was. Lo and behold, the duchess showed up the next day for the Royal Salute Polo Challenge at the Grand Champions Polo Club up in Wellington. Cameras were there, too. The match was filmed for a Netflix doc the royal couple was producing for their company Archewell.
As if the Hollywood star showing up didn't cause enough of a stir, a strange thing happened during the step and repeat.
When Sentebale chairwoman Dr. Sophie Chandauka stood next to Harry for a group picture, Markle is seen motioning for the woman to move away from him and get next to her. She complied. The awkward exchange quickly went viral, and ultimately spiraled into a disaster.
A year later, Sentebale is in flux after Harry suddenly resigned — reportedly because his fractured relationship with Chandauka.
'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,' the California based Brit said in a statement. 'What's transpired is unthinkable. We are in shock that we have to do this...'
The actual reason for the rift? According to widespread media reports, it was that cringy moment at the Wellington tournament.
Harry apparently wasn't happy about the fallout and had his team fire off a text to Chandauka asking her to publicly defend Markle and say all was copacetic between the two women. The Zimbabwe born lawyer declined.
'I said no,' Chandauka told the Financial Times in a bombshell interview. 'We're not setting a precedent by which we become an extension of the Sussex PR machine.'
In another sitdown with Sky's Sunday Morning News, Chandauka accused Harry of 'harassment and bullying at scale'.
'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.
A source close to a handful of Sentable's former trustees and patrons — who also left the charity — blamed the breakdown on Chandauka, and called her interviews with the UK press a 'publicity stunt.'
Still, we hear Chandauka has receipts, which could prove way embarrassing if leaked.
'Harry should be nervous,' an insider close to the situation told Page Six, 'especially when he has been so outspoken about his wife being bullied in the past.'