4 min readNew DelhiAug 6, 2025 05:20 AM IST
Prince Harry has responded to the criticism after the UK’s Charity Commission wrapped its investigation into Sentebale, the African charity he co-founded nearly two decades ago with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. While the Commission found no evidence of bullying, misogyny, or racism within the organisation, clearing Harry of the accusations brought forward by current chair Dr. Sophie Chandauka, the damage, the Duke says, is already done.
Prince Harry breaks silence on Sentebale controversy
On August 5, the investigating commission said it found “no overreach” by either Harry or Chandauka. The controversy began earlier this year with a major fallout inside the charity’s board. Things got out of hand by March 2025, and the Duke, along with the entire board resigned. In a joint statement, they called the working relationship with Chandauka “beyond repair” and said they could no longer serve under those conditions. They also claimed she was asked to step down but refused, and instead sued others to hold her position.
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Amid the public fallout, the Charity Commission launched a formal probe, which ended with a clear verdict: no wrongdoing by Harry or Chandauka. But while both walked away clean, the Commission slammed the charity’s leadership for its failure to handle disputes internally and for letting the mess spill out in full view, damaging not just Sentebale, but trust in charities overall.
In response to the report, a spokesperson for Harry welcomed the Commission’s findings but made it clear, the Duke isn’t satisfied. The spokesperson said that although the report found no fault with Harry, the consequences of the drama wouldn’t be borne by either Chandauka or the board, but by the children the charity was created to help. Earlier, in a statement responding to the finding, a spokesperson of Harry told PEOPLE, “Unsurprisingly, the Commission makes no findings of wrongdoing in relation to Sentebale’s Co-Founder and former Patron, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.” They added, “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.”
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A source close to Harry and Seeiso said they believe there’s no way back to running the charity like before while Chandauka remains chair. They see the entire situation as a kind of hostile takeover. “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,” the source told PEOPLE.
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Dr. Sophie Chandauka, meanwhile, issued her own statement. She said the report backed the governance concerns she had flagged earlier in 2025. Reflecting on what she called a pressure test for the organisation’s resilience, she claimed Sentebale had kept serving tens of thousands of young people in Lesotho and Botswana. “The unexpected adverse media campaign that was launched by those who resigned on 24 March 2025 has caused incalculable damage and offers a glimpse of the unacceptable behaviours displayed in private. We are emerging not just grateful to have survived, but stronger: more focused, better governed, boldly ambitious and with our dignity intact.”
In a Financial Times interview from March, Chandauka claimed her working relationship with Harry broke after she refused to help him defend Meghan Markle.
Prince Harry Clears His Name in Sentebale Scandal.