Sentebale trustee: I quit because of Sophie Chandauka’s ‘dictatorial’ style

It only took a few days for the conversation to noticeably shift in the British media’s coverage of this Sentebale mess. When the story broke, the royalist media gloated about Sophie Chandauka’s bizarre statement accusing Prince Harry of misogynoir and “playing the victim.”. But regular people, people without a particular agenda, find it extremely telling that the entire board of trustees resigned in protest of Chandauka, and that Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso stepped down as well. It’s clear to a lot of people that Chanauka’s statement was extremely odd, and that the board had every right to ask for her resignation, given her poor performance as chairwoman. Look at this noticeable shift even in the Daily Mail’s coverage:

Prince Harry’s beloved charity Sentebale could implode without him at the helm to pull in funding, insiders warned yesterday. Amid the bitter internal power struggle that saw the duke step down, one source said the whole thing ‘seems utterly nuts’. In a dramatic behind-the-scenes showdown, Harry and his co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho sided with trustees who resigned en masse after failing to unseat the charity’s chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka.

An insider told the Mail: ‘I don’t know what she’s thinking. She puts out this rather mad statement attacking the whole cause. It seems utterly nuts. Why would you want a charity created by Harry and Prince Seeiso, after their lost mothers, which obviously and quite rightly pulls on the heart-strings, to lose them? They are at the centre of the cause. It doesn’t make any sense. What is her endgame to all of this?’

[From The Daily Mail]

Exactly – what is her endgame and what does she possibly think she can achieve with her hostile takeover of a charity founded in honor of Seesio and Harry’s mothers? With Harry and Seeiso resigning in protest of Chandauka?? Meanwhile, the Times has now published TWO articles critical of Chandauka. Here’s the piece where they had comments from one of the trustees who stepped down late last year, specifically because of Chandauka’s “dictatorial” management style.

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey, who served as a trustee of Prince Harry’s African charity for nearly 20 years, has described its chairwoman’s “almost dictatorial” style, which led to clashes and ultimately prompted her, the prince and other trustees to leave the organisation. Chalker, a former overseas development minister, told The Times that her retirement from the Sentebale board in November was in response to Sophie Chandauka’s leadership.

“I was not happy with the direction in which the chair was, or was not, taking [the charity],” said Chalker, 82, who became a trustee when Harry co-founded Sentebale in 2006 with Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso. “I did not feel I had the opportunity or energy to put it right.”

Chalker described the announcement that the prince had quit the charity in solidarity with trustees who had lost faith in Chandauka as “very sad” but not entirely surprising. “How can I put it? I would say almost dictatorial,” Chalker said, referring to communications from the chair who took up the post last year.

“It was just not the right relationship between the chairwoman and the board and I don’t blame them [for resigning],” added Chalker, whose departure in November was quickly followed by that of another trustee, Andrew Tucker. Richard Miller quit as chief executive in December after five years in the role. Chalker said that she was left “in absolute shock” by the allegations in the chair’s statement that appeared to suggest that Sentebale was a “vanity project” for Harry, Seeiso and trustees.

In her defence of the royal patrons and the outgoing board, Chalker said: “In my view the board have been faithful, honest and straight throughout my time and the long experience was in the best interests of the charity and its intentions and work for the children in Lesotho and Botswana. Of that I remain convinced.”

Chalker, who was a Conservative MP for 20 years and Africa minister for eight years from 1987, was given a life peerage in 1992 and continued to work on projects in the developing world, including Africa. She also became a friend of Diana, the late Princess of Wales.

[From The Times]

I don’t know if Harry and Seeiso asked the former trustees to speak on the record, but I’m glad they are. I’m glad that there’s been immediate pushback from two trustees going on the record, dismissing Chandauka’s bizarre claims and speaking about how she alienated trustees and sponsors.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

17 Responses to “Sentebale trustee: I quit because of Sophie Chandauka’s ‘dictatorial’ style”

  1. Blogger says:

    Not the Fail, but the Times I can well believe. Dick and Becky yesterday came across as unhinged and as long as the Fail won’t attach names to their sources, I see them making things up because they can see the direction of the wind and that the other rats have people willing to go on record.

    Interesting how Chalker describes Sophie as “dictatorial.”

    Given Sophie is from the land of Mugabe, just wondering if the Squad has found any personal or political links between Sophie and her family to the Mugabe regime.

    • Swaz says:

      Well , she has definitely proven herself to be a bad fit for Santebale, just in case they had any doubts 😳

  2. Smart&Messy says:

    I’m glad there are people who don’t let the British media use them for propaganda.

  3. Wow so she is a bully. Ok I have been corrected she has an MBE which was still awarded by royal family and I still believe that her end game is to ruin this charity from with in. Is she doing the dirty work of someone from the royal family ? She went to the gutter press bedmates of the royal family to give them her bizzare version of what happened so I believe she is doing just that. I hope the co-founders can right this situation.

  4. sevenblue says:

    She didn’t only insult Harry, but also accused all those resigned of mismanagement and bullying. I am sure the journalists are calling everyone to get their side. I don’t think, Harry gave them permission to talk to the press. If you are blamed for this mess, of course you are gonna defend yourself. Two Princes were the last ones who resigned. They probably waited to see if the issue could be resolved internally. When it didn’t, they also followed the board. From what I see from Harry’s other charities too, he makes sure the charity is independent and gets run by the board full of competent people.

    • Blogger says:

      Hard for the rats to support Sophie when a conservative and establishment-aligned person such as Chalker came out on record.

      Would be interesting to see if Sophie starts suing people.

  5. TQ says:

    What a terrible situation for Sentebale and the people they help. Chandauka sounds like a narcissist who believed her way is the only way, and that people either get on board or leave as she didn’t need them, and raised the allegations to distract from her own failed leadership.

    I was in a similar situation on a non-profit Board last year with a narcissist at the helm who drove everyone away, and also filed false allegations to distract from the dictatorial style. These types of situations are really sad for the constituents of the non-profits.

    • Blogger says:

      Yes, especially since she is a “volunteer” (unpaid even with the $600K fundraising consultants?).

      It’s her way or the highway.

      Oh dear.

  6. Jais says:

    I honestly glossed over what Sophie said as it was so bizarre that I forgot she called it a vanity project. Bc wth, seriously? But I think the best question is what is the endgame? Bc if she was struggling to get donors before, what can she possibly get now? And so what? she’s just going to run the charity into the ground?

  7. Lady Digby says:

    Her aggressive statement scorning both co founder’s twenty years heartfelt commitment to Sentebale plus deploying legal action to prevent trustees from voting her out as COB and then threatening to ruin the charity by suing the trustees if she was eventually removed from her position : made it clear that she was on the attack. Sophie wanted to preserve her own position at the expense of the Sentebale charity itself. Trustees had to resign to prevent her suing, miring Sentebale in lengthy and expensive legal action which would have bankrupted the charity!

  8. Lisa says:

    As a journo you’re always looking for a different angle to keep the story going, and if you’re the mail and can attack another black woman? Cherry on the icing

    • Blogger says:

      Good point. Let all the black people fight against each other! See Harry? You should have kept the purity.

  9. Amy Bee says:

    As I said yesterday, it’s getting harder and harder for the British press take Sophie Chandauka’s side on this matter. Those who have spoken out have defended Harry and Seeiso and have given the same story that the problem was the Chair and that her statement was unhinged.

  10. Lady Digby says:

    Dr Sophie MBE has two current directorships and three past ones according to the Government register.
    https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/Sr4gsq0QkO68mGNZi2jj5iYcWGw/appointments
    She was a trustee for Sentebale between 2008 and 2015 and was appointed their CoB in July 2023. She worked with them for 7 years so must have been a known quantity to the board. Clearly it is a developing story because we need to know a lot more background to her appointment as CoB. Was the job advertised? Was she head hunted?

    • kirk says:

      Lady Digby – According to the UK Charity Commission link you posted a while back, Chandauka rejoined the board in 2023. But another article said she didn’t become chair until 2024, month not specified. So, apparently some time lag between rejoining as Director and being appointed Chair. When I went through that tenure list link you posted, I made assumption (premature) that resignation of Baroness Chalker of Wallasey occurring several months before this blow-up was indication that her leaving had nothing to do with Chandauka – boy was I wrong!!

      If you read through some of Chandauka’s other statements, SM, etc, it now seems pretty clear she had been going through some kind of midlife challenge. She was trying to be more and do more than just be a corporate attorney. She started some other medically oriented company with a brother, started aggressively seeking board seats, etc. She also became more visible, clinging to Harry, at polo last year. Girl wants recognition bad. Too bad imho.

  11. Lady Digby says:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/inquiry-reports-charity-commission#inquiry-reports-published-in-2025
    Link to Charity Commission UK inquiry reports which are very thorough. I note Dr Sophie MBE made specific reference to reporting “her own trustees to the Charity Commission” in her statement. She clearly wanted to give credence to her various assertions of bad management by the board and her whistle blowing in that respect. I would agree that the Commission do need to hold an inquiry to establish what has happened.

Commenting Guidelines

Read the article before commenting.

We aim to be a friendly, welcoming site where people can discuss entertainment stories and current events in a lighthearted, safe environment without fear of harassment, excessive negativity, or bullying. Different opinions, backgrounds, ages, and nationalities are welcome here - hatred and bigotry are not. If you make racist or bigoted remarks, comment under multiple names, or wish death on anyone you will be banned. There are no second chances if you violate one of these basic rules.

By commenting you agree to our comment policy and our privacy policy

Do not engage with trolls, contrarians or rude people. Comment "troll" and we will see it.

Please e-mail the moderators at cbcomments at gmail.com to delete a comment if it's offensive or spam. If your comment disappears, it may have been eaten by the spam filter. Please email us to get it retrieved.

You can sign up to get an image next to your name at Gravatar.com Thank you!

Leave a comment after you have read the article

Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment