Prince Harry has released a statement following an investigation into a charity he founded two decades ago.
The royal co-founded the charity Sentebale with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, with the aim of helping children and teenagers come to terms with their HIV and AIDS diagnosis.
However, the princes resigned from their roles in March, pointing the blame at the charity’s current Chair of the Board of Trustees, Sophie Chandauka. The Chair then accused the princes of “harassment and bullying at scale”.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Sentebale scandal.
WHAT WERE THE ALLEGATIONS?
In March, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho resigned from the charity and released a statement saying they were resigning because of the actions of Sophie Chandauka, the Chair of the Board of Trustees.
The move came after the trustees asked the Chair to stand down and she refused to. Five trustees later resigned from their roles.
“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 statement read. “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.”
“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 statement continued. “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 Chair then accused the princes of “harassment and bullying at scale” during an interview on UK Sky News and the Charity Commission for England and Wales launched an investigation into the claims.
WHAT ARE THE FINDINGS?
On 5 August, the Commission announced it found no evidence of “widespread or systemic bullying, harassment, misogyny or misogynoir” at Sentebale.
The Commission also found there was no “overreach” by Prince Harry or the Chair but criticised all sides for letting the conflict “play out publicly”.
The Commission also cited “poor internal governance” and “failure to resolve disputes internally severely impacted the charity’s reputation and risked undermining public trust in charities more generally” as the cause of the public scandal.
WHAT HAS PRINCE HARRY SAID?
After the findings were published, Prince Harry released a statement through a spokesperson.
“Unsurprisingly, the Commission makes no findings of wrongdoing in relation to Sentebale’s Co-Founder and former Patron, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. They also found no evidence of widespread bullying, harassment or misogyny and misogynoir at the charity, as falsely claimed by the current Chair,” the statement read.
“Despite all that, 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 — but by the children who rely on Sentebale’s support,” the spokesperson continued.
WILL PRINCE HARRY RETURN TO HIS ROLE AT SENTEBALE?
A source told PEOPLE it’s unlikely Prince Harry will return to his role with the current Chair still in place.
“Both Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso are devastated by what has effectively been a hostile takeover by Sophie Chandauka,” the source told the publication.
“This was Prince Seeiso and Prince Harry’s life work. They established it 19 years ago and in that time put in blood, sweat and tears and their own money into building this charity up to what it was: a multi-million pound charity that delivered nothing but good for the beneficiary community that is supported in Lesotho and Botswana.”
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