Prince Harry's African charity's ex trustees break silence over probe findings

Former trustees of Prince Harry’s African charity Sentebale have broken their silence as the official inquiry into the bitter fallout concluded.

Sentebale’s trustees and co-founders and patrons, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, stepped down from their roles in March over a bitter conflict with the chairperson Dr. Sophie Chandauka.

Following the row, which was made public through fiery statements from both sides, the Charity Commission for England and Wales launched an investigation into the charity's affairs in April.

Late on August 5, the commission released its findings, which said that failure to clarify what duties fall under major roles led to disagreements. It also noted that there was no evidence of "overreach" by either Chandauka or Prince Harry and directed the charity to form an effective process for dealing with internal complaints to prevent further public fallouts.

However, the former trustees aren’t happy with the findings, which leave Chandauka in the position of chairperson.

In a statement shared with People, the trustees noted, "We are disheartened by the way in which the Charity Commission has chosen to ignore key concerns and irrefutable evidence raised with them regarding the leadership and oversight of Sentebale's Chair."

"We accept there is always room to strengthen governance of an organization, which is why we welcomed a governance review by the Chair initiated in February 2024, and that should have only taken a matter of months — we unfortunately never saw a report or any outcomes enacted, more than two years into her tenure," they explained.

"We remain gravely concerned for the future of the charity and the well-being of the communities we served for 19 years, following the mission set out by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso in honor of their mothers," the statement concluded.

Sentebale was founded by Harry and Seeiso in 2006 to support youth affected by the HIV and AIDS crisis in the southern African country. The charity was set up in memory of their mothers, Princess Diana and Queen Mamohato.