I’ve figured out one of the other reasons why I’ve gotten such a sense of deja vu with this Sentebale catastrophe. Sophie Chandauka issued a bizarre public statement on Tuesday, saying in part that hers was “the story of a woman who dared to blow the whistle about issues of poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir.” The British media have latched onto the accusations and made them entirely about Prince Harry. There’s no evidence, no actual story. The Charity Commission in the UK is apparently investigating her claims, and who knows how long that will take. Does the lack of specificity remind you of anything? It’s the “Meghan is a bully who made Kate cry” story all over again – no concrete story or claim of anything specific that Meghan did or said, just “she’s a bully, I swear!” They’re just going to keep saying “Prince Harry in charity racism row” for months, if not years. Anyway, Becky English at the Daily Mail had an update, because of course she did.

Prince Harry has been left reeling after the charity he co-founded issued a stinging rebuke following news that he had decided to stand down from the organisation. Sentebale, which was formed in 2006 in memory of Harry’s late mother to help Aids orphans in southern Africa, yesterday issued a statement suggesting ‘people in the field’ were more important than its trustees.

The charity posted a message on social media that many will interpret as a ‘P45’ to the prince. It read: ‘While Trustees are key for governance and regulation, and Patrons – especially Founders – are an honour to have, it’s the people in the field who are advancing the work, no matter what.’

The charity also reiterated its commitment to supporting young people in the region without the support of its royal patron, who sensationally stepped back from his role in protest at the ‘untenable’ actions of the chair of its board, Zimbabwean-born lawyer Sophie Chandauka. Sources say after the board of trustees formally requested Ms Chandauka’s resignation she declined and then, when they tried to force the move through with a vote, she filed a legal challenge at the High Court to the prevent their meeting.

While there is no formal record of proceedings at the Royal Courts of Justice, it is claimed that the court did not grant an injunction and, as the charity board meeting was ultimately cancelled, the judge decided that no further hearing or court appearance was necessary. It is not clear where this leaves Ms Chandauka’s legal challenge. It is also understood that Prince Harry is not personally the subject of any legal action in this matter.

Ms Chandauka also said she had filed a report to the Charity Commission. And while she did not mention Harry by name, she made no secret of where she feels the blame lies as a ‘proud African’. In a highly-charged statement she said: ‘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.’

There was a deafening public silence to the highly-damaging claims by Harry, who co-founded Sentebale with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, younger brother of the country’s king. But a source who has known the prince since the charity’s inception told the Mail: ‘There’s no way of sugar-coating the damage of this, regardless of who’s in the right. He’ll be reeling.’

Chandauka insisted that she would not step down from her role. One source close to the prince told the Mail that it was a ‘hugely sensitive’ situation and urged people to see ‘the facts play out’.

‘The charity commission will investigate. That process needs to happen,’ they said.

[From The Daily Mail]

“There’s no way of sugar-coating the damage of this, regardless of who’s in the right” – I mean, Harry’s side actually has come out with the reasons why Chandauka was asked to resign in the first place: she beefed with and lost a major sponsor of the Sentebale Polo Cup and she spent $600K on outside consultants without informing the board. She’s clearly been mismanaging the money and the fact that they couldn’t play the Sentebale Polo Cup (a fundraiser for the charity) is a really big deal. I think once the facts do come out and Chandauka is dealt with, it will be somewhat easy for Harry and Seesio to come back into Sentebale and try to repair the damage.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.