As I covered the Sentebale catastrophe yesterday, I wondered what would come first in the scandal: the Windsors and royalist media showing their hand and exposing their involvement in the situation, or sources close to Prince Harry coming out to tell his side of things. Surprisingly, sources close to Harry came out about 24 hours after the initial story broke. Sidenote: earlier this month, the Sussexes’ new “chief communications officer” Meredith Maines started working with them. Maines has been working her ass off this month, and I’m so pleased to see that the Sussexes now have a really responsive AND proactive comms strategy in place. Anyway, if you want a comprehensive recap of the Sentebale mess, go here. Sentebale’s board of trustees asked their chairwoman Sophie Chandauka to resign, she refused and ran to London to sue them, and then the trustees resigned en masse, then Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso resigned from Sentebale as well. Well, Sussex/Sentebale sources spoke to People Magazine about what’s been going on for the past year:
Prince Harry, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho and the board of trustees of Sentebale made the shocking decision to resign from the charity amid what has been characterized as a financial crisis and internal turmoil.
On March 26, the Duke of Sussex, 40, and Prince Seeiso, 58, announced the “devastating” decision to step down as patrons of the charity, backing the trustees who also resigned over a fallout with chairwoman Dr. Sophie Chandauka. After trustees asked Chandauka to resign, she brought a lawsuit against the charity, which supports young people in southern Africa. The Charity Commission, based in the U.K., confirmed they are investigating.
A Sentebale source familiar with the situation tells PEOPLE that Chandauka has placed significant legal and financial strain on Sentebale. According to the source, when Chandauka was appointed in July 2023, the organization was in stable financial standing — but that changed under her leadership.
When the most recent fundraising deal collapsed in December 2024, internal discussions began about her stepping down. By February, the board formally requested her resignation, but Chandauka allegedly refused. When trustees moved forward with a vote to remove her, she filed a legal challenge to block the process.
A key turning point reportedly came when tensions arose between Chandauka and a major funder of the Sentebale Polo Cup, the charity’s flagship fundraising event. As a result of this breakdown, the 2024 match did not take place. Separately, Chandauka hired external consultants — at a cost of over $600,000 — to develop new fundraising strategies and build relationships with potential donors, allegedly without securing board approval.
“The trustees felt that they couldn’t in good conscience continue to place legal and financial strain on the charity by it proceeding in court and chose to resign,” the source says.
When reached for comment, a representative for Chandauka tells PEOPLE: “First and foremost, like much of the content circulated yesterday, a lot of information being shared is untrue and defamatory in nature. When we are ready as an organization, we will share more detail regarding the events leading up to this point. Moreover, the Board acts collectively on major decisions, and it would be inappropriate to assume decisions were made by any one person. As previously said, legal action was taken because of the cover-up of issues relating to abuse of power, misconduct, mismanagement, bullying, harassment, misogyny and misogynoir amongst other concerns.”
“A key turning point reportedly came when tensions arose between Chandauka and a major funder of the Sentebale Polo Cup, the charity’s flagship fundraising event. As a result of this breakdown, the 2024 match did not take place.” Imagine being so terrible at your job, you can’t glad-hand a major sponsor of a charity polo match involving Prince Harry and Nacho Figueras. So… maybe this wasn’t a Windsor op, maybe it was just gross incompetence. Spending $600K on “external consultants” without consulting anyone within Sentebale is certainly a terrible look as well. The biggest red flag is that the entire board of trustees AND the two royal patrons have all resigned and Chandauka is still sitting in her chairwoman’s position, screaming about how she’s being bullied.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- The Duke of Sussex during the awards ceremony after he played in a polo match during the Royal Salute Polo Challenge, to benefit Sentebale, at The USPA National Polo Center Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke Of Sussex Where: Wellington, Florida, United States When: 12 Apr 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duchess of Sussex presents the trophy to her husband, the Duke of Sussex after his team the Royal Salute Sentebale Team defeated the Grand Champions Team, in the Royal Salute Polo Challenge, to benefit Sentebale, at The USPA National Polo Center Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke Of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess Of Sussex Where: Wellington, Florida, United States When: 12 Apr 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duchess of Sussex presents the trophy to her husband, the Duke of Sussex after his team the Royal Salute Sentebale Team defeated the Grand Champions Team, in the Royal Salute Polo Challenge, to benefit Sentebale, at The USPA National Polo Center Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke Of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess Of Sussex Where: Wellington, Florida, United States When: 12 Apr 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duchess of Sussex presents the trophy to her husband, the Duke of Sussex after his team the Royal Salute Sentebale Team defeated the Grand Champions Team, in the Royal Salute Polo Challenge, to benefit Sentebale, at The USPA National Polo Center Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke Of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess Of Sussex Where: Wellington, Florida, United States When: 12 Apr 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex during the awards ceremony after he played in a polo match during the Royal Salute Polo Challenge, to benefit Sentebale, at The USPA National Polo Center Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke Of Sussex Where: Wellington, Florida, United States When: 12 Apr 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex during the awards ceremony after he played in a polo match during the Royal Salute Polo Challenge, to benefit Sentebale, at The USPA National Polo Center Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke Of Sussex Where: Wellington, Florida, United States When: 12 Apr 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
Losing a major client is a fireable offense in most jobs. But losing a major client, and then spending a ton of money that we previously didn’t have to spend because of that loss? Sounds like she may have just been one of those people that come into an organization and think that the way things are ran are out of date, and has all these great ideas but rubs the established people that have supported you internally and externally the wrong way.
A good leader would take the step back, assess the situation, figure out how much they can push to make the changes that they want to make, while also keeping some of the old guard happy. Sounds like in her mind is my way or the highway. Also, why did she go directly to the UK media about this? I thought the focus for Sentabale has shifted to supporting Southern Africa? Why not go to the numerous new sources there? Unless she has and I just haven’t seen it.
And I just realized that the match didn’t happen last year. I wonder why we didn’t hear rumblings then, or if we did and I with otherwise preoccupied.
Because Harry is well liked on that continent. She’ll get and got more sympathetic hearing in Murdoch land.
The UK Media hates Harry, so if she wanted to get somebody to report on her situation with him as the bad guy, they were her best choice.
Both the Scum and Times got the story from Chair because they are Murdoch owned.
Now that we have more information, I think a lot of things can be true at once. Sentebale’s budget is less than $4 million and almost half of that comes from events, which means corporate sponsors have a lot of control. We don’t know what those sponsors were expecting in exchange for their money. The organization also experienced a lot of mission creep under its former CEO and probably needs a reset.
Chandauka is the board chair, not the Executive Director, meaning she does not govern day-to-day issues and decisions. For the first time in Sentebale’s history, the executive team is made up almost entirely of Black women from Southern Africa, not white Brits. And since the staff has not resigned, I’m inclined to think Chandauka was trying to represent their interests to the board but did so in an adversarial and litigious way that failed.
Lastly, let’s not say we believe women and then immediately assume they are lying because Prince Harry is involved.
Except that she said there had been an injunction issued in a UK court to prevent her dismissal and CNN is reporting that no such injunction has been issued.
So maybe we shouldn’t just automatically believe her either.
Chandauka is representing the black women from Southern Africa etc? And where were all these good Africans when the two founders were founding, nurturing and growing Sentebale to what it is today? Now that it’s a respectable organization, now Africans want to run it and have people that look like them in top positions? Why not start one of their own organizations and run it in a way they see fit? Look, I am all for women empowerment and power to indigenous peoples of the land and all that. But this habit of grabbing things just out of sheer entitlement is absolutely not on. If the chairlady wants an organization that will be for and run by African women, that’s really nice. Please go ahead and found your own organization. Sentebale has existed and thrived for almost 20 years because of inclusivity of all peoples and sexes. I don’t see why it can’t continue to operate and exist in the same way.
@Lawrenceville So you think white Europeans should be telling Africans how to manage charities that work in their communities? That’s called colonialism which is why Sentebale made the decision to hire the people they hired.
@Megan – Lawrenceville said nothing of the sort, you’re twisting their words. Harry and Prince Seeiso worked TOGETHER in friendship and cooperation to develop Sentebale — Harry didn’t just charge in wearing a pith helmet like a white bwana master under the guise of running a charity, otherwise Seeiso would have sent him packing.
@Jaded how does one twist these words? I think they speak for themself. “And where were all these good Africans when the two founders were founding, nurturing and growing Sentebale to what it is today? Now that it’s a respectable organization, now Africans want to run it and have people that look like them in top positions?”
@Megan, no that is not what I said, please do not put words into my mouth. I’m talking about this particular organization that was founded and had been managed, very well if I must add, by a African Mosotho Prince Seeiso and a European Prince Harry. And, no I am not a European, I am a African woman that has seen many a organization that has been run into the ground by greedy Africans with a big sense of entitlement. No one owns Africa or Lesotho than the Basotho themselves. And not even the Basotho can claim to have any power to single handedly decide how organizations found in Lesotho should be run. And certainly, this Zimbabwean lady has no authority to tell a Mosotho Prince how an organization he found, nurtured and grew in his land should and shouldn’t be operated. See how this Xenophobia can get dangerous so quickly?
What I am saying is, if she wants an organization, found by African women and run by African women, go found one and run it as you please. Don’t come to an already established organization with your “I’m entitled because I am African” attitude and ruin things for those that are very underprivileged and are benefitting from this organization.
@Lawrenceville — 👍👍👍👍👍
I have never said “believe women.” I think that automatically saying one believes someone simply because they made a claim, without hearing the other side out, or finding out what really happened is rather shortsighted. It’s a good bumper sticker, but it results in shutting down debate by people who just want to pretend that life is simple. They ignore that sometimes people may have ulterior motives of their own. Believing someone’s claims solely because of their anatomy, is like believing someone simply because of their large bank accounts, or their looks. Surely, people can bear in mind that historically some people (e.g., women, children, or the poor) were not always seen as credible without saying that means that every accusation they make is therefore true and without bias.
What does “mission creep” mean? I think one of my issues is that she chose to go to the Sun first to tell her side of the story. The Sun is a paper that revels in misogynoir. For her to go there and tell her story while also using tabloid narratives about Harry makes me uncomfortable. So far, she has said nothing concrete so all we can do is wait and see. But wouldn’t losing a major funder be reason enough for any board to ask any person to step down? That said, what happened that made ISPS Handa not want to work with her? There’s a lot we don’t know but I will side-eye any person going to the tabs to tell their story. Especially when that person claimed that an injunction happened when it didn’t. And is using vague tabloids narratives about victim cards.
Who owns the consulting firm she used? Always follow the money.
Agreed. This was my first thought!
I’ve been involved with several non-profits/charities over the years and interpersonal conflict with the board is not unusual.
However this situation and her staunch refusal to leave tell me she did something more than just general mismanagement. There are signs that she embezzled funds to me. The $600,000 in consulting fees is to me a huge sign. That’s an expense that is easy to run through and not initially be checked out. Especially if it is spread out over “multiple” sources.
When I got my MA in management for arts organizations we had a case study similar to this to help us learn to look for signs of malfeasance. It’s not hard to set up other LLCs to funnel the funds through.
So my educated guess is something along those lines happened and she isn’t stepping down so they can’t get too good a look at the books. As long as she stays around she can control to a certain extent what gets seen/change them.
Agreed. $600K for a FUNDRAISING strategy is a massive red flag 🚩 Don’t know what Sentebale’s annual budget is but they don’t strike me as an 8-figure multi-million dollar charity. Most fundraising strategies are done at the smell of an oily rag and the best fundraiser for the organisation is….Harry and his friends. You could not get better publicity or goodwill than Harry and here she is fucking it all up.
What was her salary? What are her connections to the consultants? Sounds dodgy AF.
$600,000 for a fundraising plan is absolutely insane. It is almost 11 million Lesotho Loti. An astronomical amount of money! And this is on top of the fact that, according to the website, Sentebale has had a Director of Fundraising with massive international experience since 2019.
This is a volunteer position, so there’s no salary involved. The main concerns here are: if all these issues were happening, why wait until she was asked to step down before going public? If there wasn’t any inappropriate behavior, why not step down and let the outcome unfold? This turmoil isn’t in the best interest of the organization—potential funders will likely shy away from this kind of drama. If she believes the organization’s interests are better served with other funders, it would be more strategic to continue in that direction and solidify new relationships before risking the ones they already have.
Additionally, the fact that the staff is still in place doesn’t necessarily speak to anything definitive—it could be a sign of loyalty, or it could point to the fact that people often stay in paid positions when they don’t have many other options. This can create a power imbalance, especially when dominant personalities are involved.
I’ve been a fundraiser for 30 years and the only way I can think of to spend $600,000 on a fundraising strategy is to hire McKinsey.
Came here to say this, @blogger and @megan. $600K at a npo with a $4M budget should NOT be easy to funnel elsewhere. Where was the fiscal management?
And yes, I have 29 years of nfp experience.
Me thinks it finally makes sense that Harry didn’t do any promo for Polo.
it sounds like you’re pretty much on the nose here. Losing a major sponsor – such a major one that the biggest fundraising event of the year for the charity cannot go forward – and then turning around and spending 600k on consulting about fundraising?
That just seems so off and it makes sense that she is staying in place to try to protect herself as much as possible.
Thank for this. I feel the two princes resigned temporarily as patrons as a legal maneuver. What this chair woman wants no longer resembles Sentebale as it was envisioned initially by princes H and S. It is more than losing a sponsor or overspending. As many others suggested it looks like a hostile takeover. But to what end? Just to make this chair woman rich or take Harry’s charities away from him starting with the easy target that was Sentebale and move on to IG the ultimate target?
Til de som kommenterer her…
For dette handler ikke om Sentebales beste, men om ødeleggelse eller overtakelse. William tiltrakk Chandauka, ga henne medaljer og en oppgave å fullføre. Hun hadde sittet i Sentebale-styret i 8 år, så hun kunne være sikker på at de ville ansette henne. Jeg lurer på hvem som anbefalte henne her? Tross alt, nå som hun jobber med palasset, er frivillig arbeid i Afrika ikke en attraksjon for henne med mindre noen ba henne gjøre det.
Afrika er mitt, Harold.
HARRY, INVICTUS-VERGE!!!!
sorry, up, it’s in norwegian🤣
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To those commenting here…
Because this isn’t about the best interests of Sentebale, but about destruction or . William brought Chandauka in, gave her medals and a job to do. She had been on the Sentebale board for 8 years, so she could be sure they would hire her. I wonder who recommended her here? After all, now that she’s working with the palace, volunteering in Africa isn’t an attraction for her unless someone asks her to.
Africa is mine, Harold.
HARRY, WATCH OUT FOR INVICTUS!!!!
😂 Love it but am glad you also translated it into English.
The Norwegian Royal Family looks so normal in comparison…
Shameless and shameful of this woman to disrupt an organization that has functioned for 20+ years helping the most vulnerable. This appears to be about her ego more than helping the organization. Hopefully, the two prince’s will be able to move beyond this to return as the patrons.
Harry donated money from Spare and they raised heaps from the Charity Polo games he and Nacho played in . I read some rich players would donate $100.000 dollars to play alongside Harry .
He must be shattered with what’s happened .
This was very special to him and Prince Seesio, who founded it in honour of their mums ,
That’s what I don’t get. These polo events were doing the majority of fundraising so I suspect she’s not into that crowd or was never accepted by that crowd so she thought, stuff it, I’m going to go things my own way.
Talk about centring herself in a charity. Someone mentioned Naomi Campbell’s expensing when she was a charity board member, I hope the court rules for an audit over the last three years at least.
Yes, Harry donated $1.5 million from Spare.
Lost a major sponsor and the annual main event with Prince Harry and Nacho couldn’t take place? maybe because the major sponsor was Harry.
No the main sponsor was ISPS Handa and they’ve pulled out.
ISPS HANDA was at IG so they are still sponsoring Harry.
@Gemini: Yes, but they’ve stopped sponsoring Sentable and that’s why the Sentable Polo Cup didn’t’ take place last year
I thought the polo cup happened in 2024 though and was covered in the Polo docuseries? Or was that just a random charity match Harry was participating in, in Wellington FL?
Not random, it was the annual US Open Polo Championship
I mean I know that it was the open, I watched the series lol. But what was the game that Harry played in? Wasn’t that for Sentebale? Was it a charity match as part of the US open?
@becks1 I feel like there might be a few matches throughout the year and then a big one. I think the one in Polo was a smaller one.
This was from the People article and I think it’s the one we’re talking about:
The Duke of Sussex has played in the polo matches to benefit Sentebale, fundraising around $10 million over the last decade. At the Royal Salute Polo Challenge in Florida on April 12, 2024, Prince Harry was joined for photos by wife Meghan Markle and Chandauka following the match.
Might Harry and Prince of Lesotho start over with a new Charity? Is this possible? Would be great!
I’m gonna guess that those “external consultants” were either Dr. Chandauka herself and/or her relatives or friends.
I can see why Sentebale may not have made a huge deal of it at the time it occurred, though. Everything — EVERY. DAMN. THING. — that involves Harry has to be handled with the utmost delicacy because it will invariably devolve into a personal attack on him (and Meghan. Even if she had nothing to do with the matter at hand).
I have to laugh at Dr. Chandauka crying to the BM about misogynoir, though. Girl, they revel in that shit! Has she met Meghan?!
I agree @Miranda, crying to the British media is a bit rich as a strategy! This lady would know full well what their reaction would be, and how much “ammunition” she would be giving to them to try and drag Harry and The Duchess into her mess. Muddying the waters of her own malfeasance. She probably has had her fingers in the till, and this is her effort to cover that up. Also, is it just me, or is she trying to cosy up to Harry in those pictures?
I noticed too.
I noticed that too. In some of the pictures she is practically up in Harry’s armpit. I remember her looking resentful when Harry placed Meghan next to him. There maybe something else going on with her.
It’s not a Windsor op but she’s found support amongst the British media. It’s just a sad situation.
Of course she would. A critic or enemy of Harry’s is always a tabloid’s friend.
But after Willie’s betrayal, nothing can touch Harry now. Hence his willingness to resign and say goodbye to an organisation he founded 20 years ago.
There is solidarity with his fellow Prince and that’s what he should take out of this – his strong bond and relationship with people that matter to him the most are still very much in tact.
I hope the two Princes establish another organisation or initiative together.
She’s got support from the UK tabloids. The reporting from tv news and non tabloid publications has been quite balanced. Even the Times has done a very balanced factual piece.
Anything anti-Harry is a money making opportunity for the tabs.
@Julia: I agree. I saw the Times piece which got one of the trustees to speak on the record and basically confirmed what was reported in this People Magazine piece. I think as more information comes out it’s getting harder for the British press to attack Harry for this but they will find a way.
I agree with this take. It’s pretty clear that she alone is the problem here, but the British press is more than happy to help her demean Harry
Every statement I’ve read from her includes this list of ‘abuse’ terms like she copied them out of an HR book. She’s doing too much and I wonder why.
Looks like, she never got an injunction. Harry, Seeiso and rest just chose to not fight her. Listen if this lady is do incompetent that she lost Handa sponsorship while blowing 600k on consultants in US only to get 0 new donors last year, this year with the situation of charitable endeavors and aid cuts, she will most definitely nose dive the finances further. They are letting her dig the grave deep so they can fire her with cause.
Time for an extensive audit, charities sadly are big targets for those who are ethically challenged.
Sad for the Princes but I’m curious how this shakes out financially. They have lost the major sponsorship and you have to think others as well. This is not a huge charity and I imagine most of the sponsorships are very personally attached to Harry and Seeiso. No reputable company wants to be attached to scandal as well. I saw a lot of Sussex Squad posting that they were pausing their monthly donations. She did get to the press first but the information in People is pretty damning and well laid out. Does it just become some shady money laundering? I don’t know anything about this stuff.
Hope the Squad forensically runs through her .
On that I have no doubt…
Sky News speaks to Dr Kelello Lerotholi about a row with the charity’s chair that’s triggered the resignation of Prince Harry as patron.
This is an important intervention from one of the recently resigned trusttes.
Link to article
https://news.sky.com/story/misconduct-claims-at-charity-set-up-by-prince-harry-a-surprise-says-sentebale-trustee-13336335
Situation should be investigated by Charity Commission now because this is damaging Sentebale as a charity.
Most extraordinary turn of events. A volunteer chair woman actions lead to the resignation of the whole board of trustees and the 2 patrons /founders.
Hard to fathom. Await more details.
I saw this on Twitter last night and my first question was : is this why Harry didn’t promote Polo and why the part of the series about the Sentebale match seemed sloppy?
He wouldn’t have really been able to answer too many questions about that, right?
What do you mean?
@amybee I’m not really sure how to articulate this better but I’ll try. The Sentebale match that was in the Polo series is the one where all the pics of Harry and Chandauka from. The series aired in December 2024. From the timelines I’ve seen that’s when shit really hit the fan within Sentebale. When I watched the show, I felt like the editing around the match was sloppy and underserved. It made no sense to me that the show wouldn’t make a bigger deal about these extremely rich ppl coming together for a good cause. It would have brought a lot of attention to Sentebale and given a slightly more balanced view of rich ppl. On top of that, Harry didn’t do a single thing to promote the show. I’m wondering if that was to avoid questions about Sentebale since things were up in the air at that time.
The show wasn’t about Sentable though. It was about professional polo players. I’m not upset about Harry and Meghan, she was a producer too, not promoting the show. I truly believe that Polo was really about fulfilling their obligation to Netflix.
@amybee, yes. I watched the whole series so I’m aware that it’s about professional Polo and the lead to the US cup. However, the Sentebale charity game was also briefly shown. I’m glad you’re not upset with them, I don’t think anyone is.
It’s the children who are going to suffer. So sad.
@amybee I’m not really sure how to articulate this better but I’ll try. The Sentebale match that was in the Polo series is the one where all the pics of Harry and Chandauka from. The series aired in December 2024. From the timelines I’ve seen that’s when shit really hit the fan within Sentebale. When I watched the show, I felt like the editing around the match was sloppy and underserved. It made no sense to me that the show wouldn’t make a bigger deal about these extremely rich ppl coming together for a good cause. It would have brought a lot of attention to Sentebale and given a slightly more balanced view of rich ppl. On top of that, Harry didn’t do a single thing to promote the show. I’m wondering if that was to avoid questions about Sentebale since things were up in the air at that time.
I’m not really sure when all the crap hit the fan with Chandauka, but imho it was nonstop from the time she was appointed as chairperson in 2024 until now. The Sentebale polo event shown in Netflix Polo series was called a Polo Challenge (Royal Salute Whiskey sponsor) rather than the annual main fundraiser, the Polo Cup. I thought the writing and editing of the Sentebale segment in Netflix Polo could have been better, perhaps because I misunderstood difference between ‘Challenge’ and ‘Cup.’
Difference explained:: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a60471175/prince-harry-sentebale-polo-palm-beach-2024-photos/
Why did she take her lawsuit to another country? Why not hash it out in the country of the charity. Does she have standing in Britain because one of the founders is British? That’s the part I don’t understand
Sentebale is registered in London
According to their website they are registered in Lesotho, Botswana, the UK and the US.
I don’t know anything about how charities are run but I am shocked someone in a voluntary position has this much power. How was she be able to spend $600,000 on consulting? I would be very curious to see where that money ended up.
I went on the Sentebale website and I also find it striking that on the “Team” page, her portfolio picture is the largest picture out of everyone.
I really hope we would be able to get the true story of what happened without the British press goading for drama. But with the British tabloids salivating at this story and Sophie mentioning “bullying” I can already see this story being messy.
I thought I read somewhere that the goal and the personnel of management of Sentebale was to be Afro-centric. The good that Sentebale has done is undeniable through its work. To my mind, it saved a generation of Lesotho youth. Sentebale has expanded to Botswana. Perhaps further expansion is a goal? For that, you need big money. Lesotho itself is apparently a very poor country. Also, Harry was the major fundraiser, and he was the one who was able to pull in the big sponsors. Harry has put money and blood and sweat into this charity. To lose a huge sponsor of many years does not suggest competence to me. I imagine that for the time being, Sentebale still needs money from outside of Africa. This woman either has the most gigantic ego or she is some kind of mole for something or someone. Interestingly, she has involvement in hostile take-overs. Anyway, I believe Harry and Seesio’s resignation is strategic and hopefully Sentebale will be saved. In their statement, the princes said that they will always be the founders.
Definitely the ego and narcissism for me. You can see that in the photos, “Look at me, look at me!”
She’s a nobody compared to Harry’s stratosphere level. She’ll soon be forgotten too.
Also if hers was an unpaid volunteer position, what financial perks did she try to get out of it? First class fares? Business lunches? Apartment in central London? Where did the $600K go?
What’s striking is that not only did she lose a major sponsor and spend $600K on fundraising “ideas” that produced nothing, but the board finally stepped in—insisting that all fundraising should come from Africa. Translation: she didn’t want Harry involved in any fundraising efforts. This, despite the fact that he’s carried the weight of fundraising for over two decades.
Harry’s right to stay quiet. They’re always baiting him, waiting to twist his words. It’s the ESPY Award mess all over again—using someone’s mother to sling mud.
Honestly, I don’t know what Sophie’s thinking. Does she understand the country she’s operating in? The charity honors the King’s mother. His own brother had to step down to protect it. Harry has a 23-year track record here, with results that speak for themselves. I remember in the Sentebale documentary—people walked for miles just to see him when they heard he was in town.
He was just in New York, sharing a panel with the Queen of Lesotho—bowing, kissing her on the cheek—while the King himself watched from the audience. And not long ago, he hosted a massive fundraiser in Southern Africa, bringing in new sponsors (like the art gallery owner) to help expand their programs for children beyond just HIV care.
These accusations might stir things up in the UK tabloids, but Africa knows who Harry is. Lesotho is a tiny country, surrounded by South Africa, and Harry is like family to their royal household. He’s also on good terms with the South African president. During their Southern Africa tour, the UK press barely mentioned that he met with four heads of state. In Nigeria, he and Meghan got a literal red carpet welcome from the military and local kings.
Now we just watch it unfold—especially since all the Black men and women on the board were the first to resign. That must have caught her off guard. She was set for a PR battle in the UK media and courts. Instead, the board simply let go of the rope. “You want it? Fine. It’s yours.” So… now what?
Everyone keeps watching Harry, but it was Prince Seeiso who helped elevate the charity’s status locally—he’s the King’s brother. How does she expect to build relationships with community leaders or government officials now? How does she plan to attract donors when this entire scandal seems like a last-ditch move to avoid being fired?
Even if she gets new funding, it’ll be viewed with suspicion.
What’s her strategy—telling the King that his brother is a racist, misogynist, and a bully? Hard to say how far she’ll go with that one.
Either way, everyone better buckle up for Birmingham. They’re going to throw everything and the whole kitchen sink at Harry.
This reminds me a bit of some drama involving the Diana foundation too. But look, can you imagine how this woman from Zimbabwe is playing out in Lesotho and Botswana?
She wants a soap opera, she’s got it but she is destroying her reputation the more she digs in. She’ll be persona non grata in the circles that matter. And the tabloids she’s friendly with are only using her transactionally. They don’t give a shit about Black African women but hey, any foe of Harry is a friend of theirs. And she’s chosen the wrong side.
I know it’s wrong, but I can’t get over what a snack Harry is and how his gorgeousness has astronomically increased as his brother’s appearance has plunged so dreadfully! I AM concern trolling for William. Poor sausage!
My thoughts and prayers are with the organization., the governing board , the founders, the patrons, and the people of this area-the two princes are very good eggs and heart and determination to do things for the Lesoto people-Harry and Prince of Lesoto started this charity over 20 years ago-they rolled up their sleeves and worked hard to make it a charity that is making a difference in the lives of HIV young people- Harry was keeping his vow to keep his mother’s work alive and has done so admiraly. This charity was my favorite of all his charity because it was about saving lives with hopes for a brighter future. I truly hope with my whole heart this situation rights itself-if this woman thinks her leadership will do better then have it-but she remember whose running the US with his sidekick slasher- remember this Us president called countries in this part of the world shitholes-funding has been taken away from USAID-the two princes can still work to help the people using their own fundraising skills along with people of the board that resigned-God’s speed to Harry and Prince of Lesoto.
There’s an exec in a bank defrauded the bank millions by having a friend in an external consultancy charge false or inflated invoices. Sophie Chandauka may have done that. We have to wait and see what comes out of the investigation.
https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/the-besties-who-fleeced-nab-and-how-it-all-unravelled-20230227-p5cnv9