Prince Harry should be ‘nervous’ his alleged ‘unpleasant’ note to Sentebale’s boss will be made public given he ‘alienated his family’ and ‘moved heaven and Earth’ when he believed Meghan was bullied, an insider at the charity has claimed.
The Duke of Sussex could look like a hypocrite if an ‘angry’ message he allegedly sent to Dr Sophie Chandauka defending his wife is as ‘unpleasant’ as claimed, according to a source.
Harry said in a statement yesterday that ‘the truth will be unveiled’ by the Charity Commission after the British watchdog launched an investigation into how organisation is run after a bitter boardroom battle between Harry and Dr Chandauka.
But a Sentebale insider has said Harry should be concerned about what could be revealed about his dealings with its under fire boss, who he has accused of telling ‘blatant lies’.
Harry allegedly sent her an ‘unpleasant’ and ‘imperious’ message that ‘reinforced ideas that he is used to people being subservient to him’ when Sentebale’s chair refused to publicly back his wife in a row over a lavish polo event last year.
‘Harry should be nervous about this message coming out, especially when he has been so outspoken about his wife being bullied in the past,’ an insider at the charity has said.
Dr Sophie Chandauka, pictured with Meghan and Harry at a polo event last year that sparked a row. A year on the trio have fallen out and the Duke of Sussex resigned from Sentebale
Sentebale chairman Dr Sophie Chandauka has made several damaging claims against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, calling their brand ‘toxic’
The ‘highly awkward’ moment at a fundraising polo match for Sentebale in the US last year. The incident now forms part of the row between the charity boss and Harry
Speaking to Page Six in the US, the source added: ‘When Meghan was accused of being a bully, Harry’s world stopped.
‘He moved heaven and Earth to try to protect her. He alienated his family to protect her — and now he’s being accused of the same thing’.
Page Six claims it has spoken to multiple sources who say the message could make him look like a hypocrite, if it is very rude.
Dr Chandauka has accused Harry of ‘harassment and bullying’ – a claim that is denied.
She also accused of gatecrashing a Sentebale charity polo event in Florida with Serena Williams and a Netflix film crew in tow, and then awkward footage emerged of Meghan moving Dr Chandauka away from her husband on stage.
Sophie Chandauka the investigation by Britain’s charities watchdog, saying she anticipated its findings would show that the organisation was in good hands.
But Harry, who stood down as patron of the charity last week along with his fellow co-founder Prince Seeiso in support of a group of trustees who have also quit, could not resist taking another swipe, accusing Ms Chanduaka of telling ‘blatant lies’.
He said they ‘fully expected [the investigation] will unveil the truth that collectively forced us to resign’. He added: ‘We remain hopeful this will allow for the charity to be put in the right hands immediately, for the sake of the communities we serve.’
Prince Seeiso of Lesotho and Prince Harry at a children’s centre in Lesotho in October 2024
Prince Harry giggles as he holds old friend Mutsu Potsane, six, in the grounds of the Mants’ase childrens home, while on a return visit to Lesotho in 2006 as he set up Sentebale
Harry and the former trustees have accused Ms Chandauka of poor governance and spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of donors’ money on consultancy fees after it was decided to move the running of the charity from London to Africa.
But Zimbabwean-born lawyer Ms Chandauka said she was a ‘whistleblower’ and claimed the charity was beset by ‘poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny and misogynoir [bias against black women]’. She has also accused Harry of ‘harassment and bullying at scale’, trying to use the charity as his own PR weapon and attempting to oust her when she stood up to him.
Ms Chandauka took legal action to prevent them from demanding her resignation and reported her concerns to the Charity Commission. The former trustees have also reported their concerns.
Yesterday, the commission announced it had opened a ‘regulatory compliance case’ into the matter. It said it was now in ‘direct contact’ with all parties to ‘gather evidence and assess the compliance of the charity and trustees past and present with their legal duties’. Its focus will be to determine whether the charity’s current and former trustees, including its chairman, have fulfilled their duties and responsibilities under charity law.
Dr Chandauka (left), the chair of Prince Harry’s beleaguered charity Sentebale, said she had been asked to defend Meghan Markle against negative publicity but declined
The commission said Sentebale’s patrons – who would have included Harry and Prince Seeiso – are not trustees and therefore do not share their legal duties and responsibilities.
However, the Mail understands that Harry’s actions will be brought into the investigation as Ms Chandauka has partly blamed the problems of governance on the fact that some of the trustees were his friends or associates.
She says this affected the decision-making process and made it difficult to have robust conversations about the charity’s direction and future as she was encouraged not to discuss the issue while he was in the room.
Harry added: ‘What has transpired over the last week has been heartbreaking to witness, especially when such blatant lies hurt those who have invested decades in this shared goal.
‘On behalf of the former trustees and patrons, we share in the relief that the Charity Commission confirmed they will be conducting a robust inquiry.’ Ms Chandauka said the charity would continue to be focused on its ‘day-to-day operations’ in Lesotho and Botswana.
She added that she hoped the probe would offer ‘comfort’ that Sentebale and its new board of trustees were ‘acting appropriately to demonstrate and ensure good governance and a healthy culture for [it] to thrive’.
Prince Harry recently appeared in a video promoting the sustainable tourism initiative Travalyst. Today he said he is heartbroken by what has happened at Sentebale
The royal founded the organisation in honour of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales in 2006 with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help young people and children in southern Africa, particularly those living with HIV and Aids.
MailOnline revealed this week how the Chair of Sentebale has shut down her social media after a pile-on led by the so-called Sussex Squad.
Dr Sophie Chandauka deleted her Twitter account in the face of ‘online bullying’ including racism.
One troll, who uses #TeamSussex in their bio, called her a ‘house negro’ – a derogatory and racist term used to compare contemporary black people with slaves who lived in the homes of their slave-owners.
She has also been branded a ‘fraud’ who is ‘jumping on a bandwagon of hate’ from several accounts professing to support the Sussexes.
There have also been bizarre and baseless conspiracy theories including the false suggestion that Dr Chandauka is in the employ of the Prince and Princess of Wales or the Royal Family to bring down the charity Harry set up to help African children and make his mother proud.
A spokesman for Sentebale said: ‘Dr Chandauka deleted her Twitter account due to the proliferation of online bullying’.
It came as a friend of Harry’s told the Mail’s Alison Boshoff that he is ‘grief-stricken’, ‘in total shock’ and feels ‘like he’s had one of his fingers cut off’ amid the chaos at the charity he founded in 2006.
Meghan has this week launched her As Ever brand
The Sentebale chief has deleted her Twitter account after online bullying, the charity said
Since Harry’s resignation, Sentebale’s chair has faced an onslaught of trolling over the past week including her being accused of criminal behaviour and even ‘trashing’ Princess Diana‘s memory.
One insider who has worked with Sentebale told MailOnline: ‘While the pile-on has nothing to do with the Sussexes themselves, it doesn’t look good that much of the venom is from their fans.
‘The couple have campaigned against cyber bullying and misinformation on social media. I’m sure they will be appalled’.
A spokesman for Prince Harry declined to comment.
Sentebale’s under fire chair shut down her main social media profile yesterday.
It came after Harry was accused of sending an ‘unpleasant’ and ‘imperious’ note to Dr Chandauka demanding she ‘explain herself’ when she declined to publicly defend his wife.
The excruciating video showing Meghan Markle moving the charity boss away from her husband in Florida in April 2024 has been viewed by millions online.
Dr Chandauka said on Sunday that Prince Harry had, via his team, asked her ‘to issue some sort of a statement in support’ of Meghan to quash any rumours of tension between them.
Sentebale’s boss claimed she didn’t want to get involved as any statement might lead to Meghan being trolled.
