'In Shock,' Prince Harry Steps Down From Charity He Founded

Prince Harry is resigning from the charity he himself founded in 2006, saying he is "heartbroken" and "in shock" at the decision he feels he must make. Harry and co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho are both stepping down as patrons of Sentebale, a nonprofit Harry founded in honor of his late mother, Princess Diana, aimed at helping people in Lesotho and Botswana living with poverty, HIV, or AIDS, the Guardian reports. Five trustees are also stepping down from the board amid a dispute between the trustees, the co-founders, and the board's chair, Sophie Chandauka, ABC.net reports. The details of the dispute between the board and Chandauka, a lawyer who was appointed to her role in 2023, are vague, but the trustees asked Chandauka to resign and she refused, then sued the charity.

• From the co-founders: "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," Harry and Seeiso say in a statement. "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."
• From the charity: A spokesperson for the charity says only that it is "pleased to confirm the restructuring of our board" in order "to introduce experts with the capabilities and networks to accelerate Sentebale's transformation agenda as announced last year." That agenda apparently involves an "evolution" from its original mission to one aimed at "addressing issues of youth health, wealth and climate resilience in Southern Africa."
• From the chair of the board: In a lengthy statement, Chandauka describes herself as "a woman who dared to blow the whistle about issues of poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir—and the cover-up that ensued."

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