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OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
3:54 PM – Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Prince Harry has resigned as patron of the African charity that he co-founded in 2006 in memory of Princess Diana — his late mother.
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After stepping down from Sentebale, the youth-focused charity he co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, the 40-year-old Duke of Sussex claimed in an announcement that he was both devastated and “in shock.”
“Sentebale works in the Southern African countries of Lesotho and Botswana providing and enabling holistic care to young people, including those living with HIV/AIDS, and mental health challenges; along with vocational training and entrepreneurial skills. We have recently expanded into the regeneration of landscapes to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change on the natural resources that communities rely on,” the charity’s official website states.
Meanwhile, Harry has vaguely explained that due to the continuous unrest behind closed doors between the charity’s chairwoman, Dr. Sophie Chandauka, and the board of trustees — he was compelled to step down.
The Duke of Sussex also reminded the public that the foundation was first founded “in honor of our mothers” in a joint statement with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho.
“With heavy hearts, we have resigned from our roles as patrons of the organization until further notice, in support of and solidarity with the board of trustees who have had to do the same,” Harry and Prince Seeiso said in a joint statement.
“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… What’s transpired is unthinkable,” the pair’s statement continued.
“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 continued.
Harry established the foundation, which translates to “Forget me not,” in memory of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales — since she loved forget-me-not flowers, which are also called “Scorpion grasses.”
In a subsequent statement, the charity’s former trustees, Damian West, Audrey Kgosidintsi, Mark Dyer, Timothy Boucher, and Kelello Lerotholi also unanimously announced their decision to step down from their positions on the board.
“Today’s decision is nothing short of devastating for all of us, but we see no other path forward as the result of our loss in trust and confidence in the chair of the board,” they stated.
Soon after, Chandauka, who was essentially accused of being the instigator behind the ongoing “unrest,” leading to the charity’s heads stepping down — responded with a statement of her own, asserting that the recent departures do not intimidate her.
“For me, this is not a vanity project from which I can resign when I am called to account,” she declared, noting that she has reported the trustees to the Charity Commission.
“There are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct.”
She continued, explaining that the issues arose after she “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.”
Harry’s abrupt departure occurs only a few months after Richard Miller, who had served as Sentebale’s CEO for five years, resigned. Miller’s departure followed the resignations of Baroness Lynda Chalker, an 18-year director, and Andrew Tucker, a 10-year veteran of the charity in a senior role.
Following the resignation of advertising guru Johnny Hornby last year, the charity also saw a significant transformation. Hornby was chairman for five of the organization’s eleven years as a trustee.
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