Prince Harry asked charity boss Sophie Chandauka to 'defend Meghan Markle's awkward polo moment'
Several trustees have resigned from the charityPrince Harry has been slammed by the chair of his Sentebale charity in a fresh attack launched over the weekend.
It comes after the Duke of Sussex, 40, stepped down as a trustee of the charity over a dispute with the organisation’s chair, Sophie Chandauka.
Prince Harry steps down as trustee of Sentebale charity
Last week, Harry stepped down as a trustee of the Sentebale charity.
The duke set up the charity almost 20 years ago in memory of his late mother, Princess Diana.
The charity helps children and adolescents come to terms with their HIV or AIDS diagnosis. It provides a safe environment for them to address their mental health and provides them with the necessary tools to help.
The duke set up the charity alongside Prince Seeiso of Lesotho during his gap year to the African country back in 2006.
However, after a dispute with the charity chair Sophie Chandauka, Harry, along with other trustees, stepped down from their roles.
In a joint statement, Harry and Prince Seesio said: “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.
“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.”
Sentebale charity row explained
Details of the row are unclear. However, according to reports, it’s over a decision to focus fundraising in Southern Africa, rather than London, to better ‘reflect’ the region and its needs.
However, it’s believed that the board of trustees formally requested that Sophie Chanduaka resign from her position.
But she refused, taking legal action to stay in her position. She then reported them to the Charity Commission and had “blown the whistle” about issues including abuse of power, bullying, sexism and racism.
Senteable charity chair lashes out at Prince Harry
In a new interview, Chandauka has blamed Prince Harry’s “toxic brand” for the drop in donations to the charity.
Speaking on Sky News, Chandauka also spoke about how Meghan Markle‘s appearance at the charity’s Polo match last year caused division.
According to Chandauka, prior to the event, Meghan had said that she wouldn’t be attending. However, she did end up turning up, with tennis legend Serena Williams in tow.
Prince Harry asked me to issue some sort of a statement in support of the duchess, and I said I wouldn’t.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, then allegedly caused chaos on stage by making the charity’s chair move when Harry was celebrating the Royal Salute Polo Challenge.
Chandauka, who was stood on Harry’s right, was asked twice by Meghan to move to her left side, away from Harry. Others had to shuffle around them to find a place. Chandauka had to duck under the trophy to get into the position Meghan wanted her in.
‘We cannot be an extension of the Sussexes’
“We would have been really excited had we known ahead of time [Meghan was coming], but we didn’t,” Chandauka said.
“And so the choreography went badly on stage because we had too many people on stage. The international press captured this, and there was a lot of talk about the duchess and the choreography on stage and whether she should have been there and her treatment of me,” she continued.
“Prince Harry asked me to issue some sort of a statement in support of the duchess, and I said I wouldn’t.
“Not because I didn’t care about the duchess, but because I knew what would happen if I did so, number one. And number two, because we cannot be an extension of the Sussexes.”
Royal Insider has contacted reps for Harry and Meghan for comment.
Read more: Prince Harry will be ‘reeling’ over Sentebale scandal ‘regardless of who’s in the right’
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