Prince Harry and Sophie Chandauka, who claimed Sentebale was being used as an extension of the Sussex PR machine. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry and Sophie Chandauka, who claimed Sentebale was being used as an extension of the Sussex PR machine. Photo / Getty Images
Sophie Chandauka claims the toxicity of the couple’s brand was the biggest threat to Sentebale’s future.
Prince Harry tried to use Sentebale, his African charity, as “an extension of the Sussex PR machine” to protect his wife’s reputation, its chairman has claimed.
Firing the latest salvo in an extraordinary boardroom row, Sophie Chandauka said she had been asked by the Prince’s team to defend Meghan, his wife, in the face of negative media coverage.
“I said, ‘No, we’re not setting a precedent by which we become an extension of the Sussex PR machine’,” she told the Financial Times.
Chandauka, who was appointed chairman of the board at Sentebale in 2023, is now in a bitter public dispute over the charity’s governance, fuelled by claims and counter-claims of racism, bullying and mismanagement.
The Telegraph understands this devastating breakdown in trust was fuelled by an awkward moment captured on camera last April during an annual Sentebale charity polo match in Miami, when the Duke captained the winning team.
Prince Harry and Sophie Chandauka at a Sentebale polo match in Singapore in 2023. Photo / Getty Images
As the players and their partners gathered on the podium for a post-match photograph, Meghan appeared to instruct Chandauka to move away from Harry as he celebrated his win.
The Duchess was filmed asking the Zimbabwe-born lawyer, who stood on Harry’s right, to move to her left side, away from her husband, as he kept his arm tightly around the Duchess, forcing her to duck under the trophy to switch positions.
One well-placed source said this moment was the catalyst for the falling out with Chandauka.
“Ultimately, it comes down to that polo match and the awkward moment with Megan moving her out the way,” the source said.
“Harry then demanded that she make a statement to the press, basically saying ‘Megan wasn’t mean to me’, and she refused to do that.”
The source alleged the Duke “behaved inappropriately in asking her to talk to the press” and later joined with the trustees in seeking to remove her.
“Ever since that point, they’ve tried their best to move her out, using the trustees in order to undermine her, demean her and try [to] force her hand,” the source said.
Prince Harry and Meghan at the Royal Salute Polo match benefiting Sentebale. Photo / Getty Images
Chandauka alleged the “toxicity” of Prince Harry’s brand, following his exit from the UK and the public airing of a litany of grievances, became the biggest threat to its future.
Sentebale was plunged into chaos this month when both the Duke and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, his co-founder, resigned in a blaze of acrimony.
Prince Harry said on Tuesday he was “truly heartbroken” about quitting the charity. He founded Sentebale in 2006 to help young people affected by Aids in southern Africa in memory of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
In a joint statement, the two princes said they were “devastated” at the “unthinkable” breakdown in relations with Chandauka. It culminated in a High Court claim as the board tried to eject her from the charity, with the trustees then resigning en masse.
Chandauka responded by lashing out at those who “play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct”.
One source told the Telegraph the “traumatised” Duke would “100%” return if Chandauka were to fall on her sword, as would the rest of the board.
For her part, Chandauka alleged the adverse public sentiment surrounding the Duke following the release of Harry & Meghan, a Netflix documentary, in 2022 and Spare, the Duke’s memoir, in 2023, affected the charity’s ability to attract new donors and make senior hires.
“When you start to interview people, they’re asking questions about, well, these mixed messages around the patron,” she said.
Harry and Meghan in their 2022 Netflix docuseries. Photo / Netflix
“The number-one risk for this organisation was the toxicity of its lead patron’s brand.”
She claimed Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso wanted “to force a failure and then come to the rescue”.
On paper, Chandauka was well-qualified for the role. She worked briefly for Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, and for a longer period as a senior executive at financial services firm Morgan Stanley.
She has an honorary doctorate in business administration, awarded by the University of Coventry in 2023, seemingly in recognition of her diversity campaigning.
However, the London-based Black British Business Awards Ltd, which she co-founded, leading her to be made an MBE in 2021, is also struggling. Chandauka resigned as a director in June last year.
The company is in deficit to the tune of £387,000 ($875,800), of which £197,000 ($445,820) is owed to the taxman.
At Sentebale, an apparent falling out with one of the main sponsors of the annual polo tournament is alleged to have placed the charity in a “very, very vulnerable position”.
In response, Chandauka spent some US$500,000 ($874,623) on consultants in an effort to reach a new tranche of largely US-based donors, inspired by the Sussexes’ move to the country.
Harry and Meghan take part in a joint meditation in their Netflix documentary. Photo / Netflix
But when the money failed to roll in, the board asked her to leave, prompting an “aggressive” reaction which included a High Court injunction.
Sentebale sources claimed Chandauka’s own family were among the charity’s biggest donors last year.
But its most recent financial accounts reveal it has reserves of less than £1 million ($2.3m) and was exposed to a downturn in income from events.
Cash injection from Spare publication
Despite the Duke’s cash injection of US$1.5m ($2.6m) from the profits of Spare, more money was spent than received and the board acknowledged it needed to be less reliant on income from international events such as high-profile polo tournaments in Japan and Singapore.
Total income in August 2023 stood at £3.4m ($7.7m), down from £4.5m ($10.2m) a year earlier.
Separately, there were disagreements about Chandauka’s remuneration for what was, essentially, a voluntary role.
One side claimed the trustees and Prince Harry offered to reimburse her for her efforts, initiating the discussions and asking her to put together a business case.
A source close to Chandauka said she asked for “a very small sum”.
However, another source told the Telegraph she was offered a pro rata salary of £150,000 ($339,000) for her part-time work but “didn’t take that very well” and asked instead for £2000 ($4,500) a day, capped at £300,000 ($679,000) a year.
Shepherds in Lesotho in 2017. Chandauka said the shift towards governance in Africa caused friction. Photo / Getty Images
Chandauka has argued that she tried to widen the charity’s remit to include climate resilience and wealth inequality, while shifting its governance from London to southern Africa.
“The way the organisation had been set up in 2006 was no longer appropriate in 2023 in a post-Black Lives Matter world,” she said. “Funders were asking for locally led initiatives.”
She alleged the shift towards southern Africa caused friction between the charity’s UK-based staff and those in Botswana and Lesotho, where most of its workforce of over 500 is based.
In December, Richard Miller, the London-based chief executive who had been in the position for five years, was replaced with Carmel Gaillard in Johannesburg.
The board felt “a loss of power and control and influence”, Chandauka alleged.
When the trustees tried to get Chandauka to resign, she filed a report to the Charity Commission, writing in her complaint, seen by the FT: “I view the request for my resignation as being a direct response to my raising significant concerns regarding the charity’s current governance, management and administration.”
On March 5, Chandauka lodged a legal claim at the High Court in an attempt to block the boardroom vote to remove her.
“They thought I wouldn’t have the audacity to proceed with a court action,” she said.
New board appointed
A series of new appointments have been made in the wake of the mass resignations.
The newly formed board includes Iain Rawlinson, a financier who was previously chairman of Tusk Trust, Prince William’s conservation charity, and who has been advising Chandauka.
He claimed there had been a concerted effort by certain trustees “to destabilise and remove Sophie” from her position.
A Charity Commission spokesman said: “We can confirm that we are aware of concerns about the governance of Sentebale. We are assessing the issues to determine the appropriate regulatory steps.”
Chandauka said the public row had been stressful for the charity’s staff, saying: “The team is not equipped to deal with this glare.”
In a message to Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso, she said: “The team is resolved that Sentebele will live on, with or without you.”
