Prince Harry has released a joint statement announcing his decision to step down as patron of his charity, Sentebale, which he founded nearly 20 years ago with Prince Seeiso.
The charity aims to support people in Lesotho and Botswana living in poverty and those suffering from HIV and Aids.
In the statement, Harry and Seeiso described the breakdown in the relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board as “unthinkable” and creating an “untenable situation”.
The statement read: “Nearly 20 years ago, we founded Sentebale in honour of our mothers. Sentebale means ‘forget-me-not’ in Sesotho, the local language of Lesotho, and it’s what we’ve always promised for the young people we’ve served through this charity.”
The statement continued: “Today is no different. With heavy hearts, we have resigned from our roles as patrons of the organisation until further notice, in support of and solidarity with the board of trustees who have had to do the same.”
The row is centered around the chair of the board of trustees, Sophie Chandauka, and a decision to focus fundraising largely in Africa.
According to the Times, Chandauka is suing the trustees after they questioned whether she was best placed to chair the board.
The princes’ statement sided with the departing trustees, saying: “These trustees acted in the best interest of the charity in asking the chair to step down, while keeping the wellbeing of staff in mind. In turn, she sued the charity to remain in this voluntary position, further underscoring the broken relationship.”
The statement concluded: “We thank all the trustees for their service over the years and are truly heartbroken they’ve had to follow through with this act. What’s transpired is unthinkable. We are in shock that we have to do this, but we have a continued responsibility to Sentebale’s beneficiaries, so we will be sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about.”
The Charity Commission confirmed that an investigation was underway into concerns about the governance of the organisation.
Chandauka has refused to step down, and several board members, including Timothy Boucher, Mark Dyer, Audrey Kgosidintsi, Kelello Lerotholi, and Damian West, have also resigned as trustees.
A spokesman for Sentebale said that the charity had not received notice of Prince Harry’s or Prince Seeiso’s resignation, adding that the “recalibration” of the board was “part of Sentebale’s ambitious transformation agenda”.
The Duke of Sussex last traveled to Africa in 2024 to support the charity and attended an event for the charity in New York in December.
