Sophie Chandauka wrote to Duchess Meghan, inviting her to the 2024 polo match

At some point in the past year or two, royal reporter Richard Palmer left/got pushed out of a relatively cushy gig at the Daily Express. Nowadays, he makes a few bucks writing weekly (or maybe bi-monthly) royal summaries of what’s been happening in the extended British royal universe. Like most current and former rota reporters, Palmer has found that there’s much more interest and money in covering the Duke and Duchess of Sussex rather than the left-behinds. His piece this week is unsurprisingly all about the Sussexes, Sentebale, As Ever and Netflix. There’s a lot of regurgitation of British tabloid reporting (eyeroll), but Palmer has some new info about Sophie Chandauka and her very bizarre claims, especially the claim about the Duchess of Sussex showing up to a Sentebale polo fundraiser unannounced.

Despite the drama and controversy, these have been just another crazy few days in the lives of Harry and Meghan. They are perhaps the world’s most marmite couple – so much so that the fifth anniversary last Monday of the official end of their lives as working members of the Royal Family went largely unremarked.

They have been damaged by the fallout from the crisis at Sentebale, where Chandauka, a 47-year-old Zimbabwean lawyer, has levelled accusations of racism and misogynoir – discrimination against black women – at the primarily white people previously running the charity, accusing Harry of harassment and bullying as well as labelling it a vanity project. Worse, she has blamed the toxicity of the Sussex brand for her inability to find new sponsors for the charity, which helps young people in Lesotho and Botswana, two impoverished nations where more than one in five adults are HIV positive, and the unemployment rate is 16 and 23 per cent respectively.

In a succession of claims and counterclaims, further information has come to light, The i Paper can reveal, challenging some of Chandauka’s version of events.

Sources close to the former trustees, whose resignations came after Chandauka lost their confidence and refused to quit, pointed out that, despite her claims that the Sussexes’ toxicity made it impossible to find sponsors, Sentebale was almost entirely reliant on money from Harry’s polo games and a $1.5m (£1.2m) donation from the proceeds of his memoir Spare.

In addition, there are questions about claims Chandauka made in a television interview with Sky’s Trevor Phillips last Sunday. She complained that Meghan had made a surprise appearance which had disrupted a polo tournament in Wellington, Florida, in April 2024, while Harry’s insistence on bringing a Netflix camera crew, something she felt awkward about, had earlier lost the charity a polo venue in Miami.

It has now been claimed by sources that Chandauka had personally written to Meghan to invite her to the polo and that Harry’s friend Nacho Figueras had secured the alternative venue to the financial advantage of Sentebale after the original hosts in Miami had increased the costs. Chandauka confirmed the invitation but said she and the Sentebale team were informed less than 24 hours in advance of Meghan’s attendance.

Furthermore, video footage has come to light showing that Chandauka welcomed Netflix’s participation. “It’s a great platform and profile. The Netflix brand is globally recognised, and any opportunity to tell the story of Sentebale in the context of a global brand such as Netflix is obviously exciting for us,” Chandauka said at the time.

Much has been made of the awkward exchanges when Meghan asked Chandauka to move away from Harry on the presentation podium after the match. However, the video soundtrack reveals the Duchess asking politely: “Do you want to come over here?”

Both Chandauka and Harry have welcomed the Charity Commission’s decision to examine the running of Sentebale. The commission, the voluntary sector’s watchdog, will weigh up the claims and counterclaims and check whether the charity’s former and current trustees, including Chandauka, have fulfilled their legal responsibilities. If there is any evidence of wrongdoing, it could lead to a more severe statutory inquiry, under which bank accounts can be investigated and replacement staff brought in to run the charity.

[From The i Paper]

“However, the video soundtrack reveals the Duchess asking politely: ‘Do you want to come over here?’” – that is NOT NEW INFO. We had the audio last year! That was why it was always unhinged for people to claim that Meghan was rude to Chandauka in that moment – she was politely asking Chandauka to place herself where there was room. Now, there are other angles which have been “revealed” in recent days which show that Meghan wasn’t even the only person on the platform motioning at Chandauka to move. Other people were trying to get her to move away from Harry and into the center of the group. What could have been a minor and inconsequential ten seconds of chaos has been willfully turned into a referendum of Meghan’s character, and cited by Chandauka as the “start” of her falling out with the Sussexes.

As for trustees revealing that Chandauka apparently personally invited Meghan to the polo match… what I don’t get is why would Chandauka even need to personally invite Meghan, and why was anyone surprised that Meghan would support her husband at a charity polo match? But yeah, big shock, Chandauka lied and misrepresented. And she was happy to have Netflix there AND Nacho secured a better deal for Sentebale. AND she spent $600K on bullsh-t “consultants.”

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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114 Responses to “Sophie Chandauka wrote to Duchess Meghan, inviting her to the 2024 polo match”

  1. Jan says:

    Poor CONdauka is running around cleaning up her CV, strange but she is getting dragged on LinkedIn of all places.

    • Lawrenceville says:

      That woman is not just a con-woman she is a thief. She probably wrote to Meghan to try to make herself important that if Meg showed up it would be because she invited her. She is way too far up her own ass. Meghan Miami polo attendance was not the first, she has ALWAYS attended her husband’s polo games, so this thief needs to get the f over herself.

      • Megan says:

        I think so Sophie “invited” her to confirm her attendance for marketing purposes (Meghan’s attendance would definitely help sell tickets). I think Sophie felt snubbed that Meghan confirmed at the last minute, but I assume that is a security issue because an outdoor space can’t be fully hardened. There are so many crazies out there Meghan can never be lax in security.

      • BeanieBean says:

        Yeah, that’s what I don’t get. Of course Meghan was going to attend & why would she need to be invited? And how would her presence throw everything off? It just threw this person’s ability to get next to Harry, but that was always going to be brief, anyway, for the post-match photos. 🙄

      • Lawrenceville says:

        That Chandauka woman is a liar, the Sussexes wouldn’t confirm with her whether they will attend or now, most especially Meghan. Harry is a given, but not Meghan. It would have been a huge security breach. Their team and security communicate with the top dogs, and other security personnel, none of which Chandauka is, so no communication with her to confirm or not if Duchess Meghan would attend. And besides, the Sussexes have a communications team that shifts through their mail to see which is or isn’t relevant to their causes and decide accordingly whether to forward the said mail to them or not. This woman’s invite if it was sent probably ended up at Archwell Foundation with the PAs who would know that an invite from her is absolutely unnecessary and would just put it in junk mail.

    • Eurydice says:

      I’m not on LinkedIn – what is she cleaning up and how is she being dragged?

      • Jan says:

        She is cleaning up her exaggerate qualifications. She did not get a law degree from Oxford University, it was Oxford College.

      • Eurydice says:

        @Jan – her wiki page doesn’t mention Oxford at all, or a law degree from anywhere. It doesn’t actually mention any sort of degree, just that she was a student for a year in Canada and then attended Lake Superior State University in Michigan (a small state university that also serves as a community college). A LSS University article says she got a undergraduate degree in political science/pre-law. The article goes on to say she completed her legal education at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice, which was a short-lived program jointly started by Oxford University and Oxford Brooks University – but there’s no mention of that in her wiki, just that after Michigan she went to the University of Birmingham for a year, presumably for law, but it doesn’t say so.

      • Jaded says:

        @Jan — when this mess first blew up I checked her Wiki page. It has changed considerably over the past few weeks. A ton of education-related stuff has been removed, as has reference to her honorable doctorate. Things that make you go hmmmm….

      • fwiw says:

        Me too, Jaded. I checked her online info when this first blew up and media was calling her “Dr.” and “Oxford educated lawyer”, etc, and then sometime after the TV blitz I looked again to see just two degrees. I read the degree at Birmingham was business administration.

        As to Lebec and other consultants stopping comments to their social media, they may be hiding, but they may just be overwhelmed with comments after their names got tied to this very public blowup.

        The new Board–if in fact Sophie as sole trustee remaining was legally permitted to appoint them–has only one of those consultants, Iain. There are three women of color, at least one living in the US, one financial, and two are medical doctors. All sound impressive. Did they not know they were walking into a scandal? Or did Iain as a respected charity consultant find them and reassure them by his joining the Board? I definitely think they had been approached more than a day before their appointments. Maybe when the Board asked Sophie to resign she & Iain realized that for her to stay the old Board had to go.

    • 809Matriarch says:

      Word is she disabled comments on her LinjedIn and deleted her X/Twitter.

      • Blogger says:

        She really thought her peers would praise her for destroying a 20-year old charity 😏

        #levelofdelusion

      • IdlesAtCranky says:

        Blogger — ain’t it fascinating how easily some folks with a lot of hearty, well-fed arrogance, spiked with some piquant narcissism, can persuade themselves that their Really Bad Idea is just absolutely fabulous?

        Especially if they’ve been — hm, shall we say — *shading* the truth for years and never been caught out?

        I’d be interested to hear what people on the original board who worked with her during her original tenure as a trustee, like Baroness Chalker or Kelello Lerotholi, thought of her work as a trustee, and why she left in the first place.

      • Blogger says:

        @Idles her rise has careened to a stop. She won’t damage anymore charities after this.

        I would love to read the eventual uncensored report by the CC with quotes from the former trustees. They’ve limited the scope so whatever vendetta she has against the patrons would be muted. She’s had her go and whatever mud she’s flung at Harry it has boomeranged on her tenfold.

        The CC can’t ignore the fact that Sentebale was run for 20 years without any public drama. But within one year, Sophie has ruined it.

  2. OriginalMich says:

    The charity match was a game with spectators. I’m sure all the players had family and friends there to support them. It is so WEIRD that Sophie was so allegedly possessive of the ‘guest list’. It wasn’t a black-tie dinner being held in a ballroom with limited seating.

    Her seeming possessiveness of Harry is also freaking weird. Did she think that when she got hired for a volunteer role she got to take unilateral possession of one of the founders as well as the charity? That she outranked his own wife in his life?

    Weird. Weird. Weird.

    • Blogger says:

      Yes the possessiveness is next level.

      I think when the CEO resigned because of her, she thought she would take over the CEO role but she was always chair during this time. I’d be interested in the board’s reaction over the CEO’s resignation because I think that unleashed Sophie’s power grab.

      But my goodness, this woman trying to control everyone in Sentebale…what an awful dictator. Which means she has massive insecurities with the need to control people. Paranoid too that people were out to get her.

      Time to go Sophie, seek therapy. You were “Sophie who?” hence you couldn’t attract donors without mentioning Harry.

    • Megan says:

      On another note, if I was at an event where Serena was the surprise guest, I would turn into such a blubbering fan girl everyone would have second hand embarrassment for me. Being angry that such a luminary attended her fundraising event shows Sophie lacks the charity and gratitude that are essential to being a successful nonprofit leader.

      • BlueNailsBetty says:

        Right? Imagine being mad that Serena Freaking Williams randomly showed up to a casual charity event you are chairing. Imagine being such a narcissist that you can’t bring yourself to use that fact to drum up free publicity for the charity.

        So pathetic.

      • Jais says:

        Yep, I will never get over her complaining on air for everyone to see and hear that THE Serena Williams attending the sentebale charity event was somehow a bad thing. Like GTFOH fr. Most charities would love to have her attend. And also she’s freaking disrespecting the goat that is Serena. How f-cking dare she? I’m still not over it.

  3. Ginger says:

    It’s pretty obvious that Sophie always knew Meghan would be there since the 3 women are all wearing white, I can’t think that is a coincidence. How Sophie positioned herself initially was always weird and awkward. She had her back to one of the players because she wanted to stand next to Harry. Them asking Sophie to move to be CENTER wasn’t bullying, she is just mad because she has a weird obsession with Harry.

  4. Yes why would she need to invite Meg to the polo event in which her husband Harry was playing? The con woman is certainly making things up as things are being revealed that she is the PROBLEM!!

    • sevenblue says:

      I still can’t believe the audacity of questioning Meghan’s attendance like she is a distant cousin or smt. She is the wife of Prince Harry. She doesn’t need invitation or approval from anyone to attend her husband’s event.

      • Yes there are people like her that think they have power over everyone. The trustees were right in calling her behavior as a dictator.

      • Blogger says:

        Definitely. WTF does she think she is to want to know the Sussexes movements?

        Massive security risk, this Sophie. She has a personal vendetta and it’s ugly to see it unravel.

      • GMH says:

        Meghan also is a major donor with her husband, of millions of dollars personally. She controls Archwell with Harry and the book proceeds are no doubt marital assets, so she is as much a donor as Harry.

    • Magdalena says:

      I think she was using that invitation to try to curry favour with Meghan, hoping she would be invited into M’s inner circle and be photographed with her and with Meghan and her friends. Then was pissed that she was treated just like the chair of the charity and not as a close personal friend – and that Meghan spent time with Serena and Delfina and not with HER.

      And also that she didn’t get advance notice so that she could tip off the UK media about the whens and wheres of H+M.

      • Nikki says:

        @Magdalena

        “And also that she didn’t get advance notice so that she could tip off the UK media about the whens and wheres of H+M.”

        It’s this thought that makes me curious on how she ended up as the Chair of Sentebale. I’m not one for conspiracy theories but I’m starting to wonder if she was a plant from the get go to cause kaos and tip off the Royal Family and their co-conspirators the UK tabloid media.

    • QuiteContrary says:

      Yeah, this. The audacity of inviting Meghan — the co-founder’s wife.

      Sophie seems like a narcissist, who thinks she’s so essential to Sentebale that she won’t leave and now is lying about everything to justify her actions. There’s a lot of that going around these days.

  5. somebody says:

    I still call BS on Meghan not letting her know until 24 hours beforehand. I’m sure that anyone who could potentially be filmed for the Netflix doc had to sign agreements. And the “fifth anniversary last Monday of the official end of their lives as working members of the Royal Family went largely unremarked.” Because who cares when they got away from the awfuls, just that they did.

    • Lawrenceville says:

      I believe it. There was no way Duchess Meghan would reveal anything to that thief Chandauka, it would have been a huge security breach on the Duchess’s part. The Sussexes do not tell anyone about their movements except their security detail communicating with other security. This Chandauka woman is trying to monitor the Sussexes’ movements thus, her writing an invite to the patron’s wife. Chandauka is a big fraud planted by William and her day of reckoning is just around the corner, karma don’t like nasty.

      • one of the marys says:

        I don’t think she was planted by William because I don’t think he is that smart or organized

      • Nikki says:

        @one of the marys

        William may not be smart enough but his handlers and co-conspirators within the British Media are. All they have to do is suggest it, probably in a way to make William think that it was his idea.

    • Lawrenceville says:

      ETA, If this woman ever wrote to the duchess, I’m 100% the invite never reached the Duchess. I’m sure all the Sussexes’ business mail is filtered through the Archwell Foundation by some third parties that open, read and then decide which gets to the Sussexes and which don’t. I’m sure a bogus unnecessary invite went straight to the bin.

      • Nerd says:

        The thing is that an invite to the patrons wife wouldn’t have been necessary anyway for the reason of her being his wife and the fact that she has been to nearly all of his polo charity events, even before marriage. The one polo match I can think of that she wasn’t at was the one in Singapore, just prior to this one, where Nacho and Harry made a point of purchasing items for their wives. Coincidentally, Sophie was part of another awkward group photo, but she didn’t have an issue with that one because Meghan wasn’t there. This was all about her trying to help the BM attack Meghan. This is very similar to the Kate lie that Meghan made her cry and Kate’s refusal to do the simple and right thing of correcting the lie with a simple statement that it was a simple misunderstanding. Sophie couldn’t correct the lie for the same reason Kate couldn’t correct her lie, it benefited them and it made Meghan into the bully she never was.

      • Lawrenceville says:

        @Nerd exactly this. The invite was unnecessary and so out of place Meghan’s PAs just threw it out and maybe had a good laugh at the audacity. This thieving impostor thought she would skate and get off scot free? Hmhm, she will shit bricks before all this is over. And she will get the heck out of Sentebale whether she likes it or not. She will be dragged out kicking and screaming but dragged our she will be. Just watch.

  6. Sunnyside up says:

    anyone who wasn’t glad at Netflix turning up to a fundraising charity event must be wrong for the job.

    • Me at home says:

      Exactly. Any charity head would be thrilled that Netflix, Meghan and Serena Williams brought attention to their charity. Not to mention, if Meghan didn’t show it would have raised a lot of eyebrows and the gossip could have overshadowed the event in a bad way, which no charity head would prefer. This attempt to blame the breakdown of relations on Meghan is completely unraveling. Wonder if Rawlinson advised this or she thought it up on her own.

    • Lady Digby says:

      Sophie was filmed at the time beaming with excitement about the global reach that Netflix has and pleased it was promoting Sentebale! Meghan showed up with her bestie Serena Williams adding lustre to the event and yet last Sunday Sophie claims we would have been excited had we known they were coming? Yet now Sophie wrote personally to invite Meghan to her own husband ‘s polo match? Meghan usually attends her husband’s polo match but the point is Sophie wasn’t blind sided or uniformed. Just like the board informed her on 10 March that they and both patrons would be standing down. Last Sunday she claimed she didn’t know patrons were leaving until the statement was made public!

  7. Noor says:

    sophie is just too big for her boots. William and Kate make last minute unannounced visits or kate’s last minute attendance to events in UK all the time and no one complained.

    Blame should be assigned to Financial Times and Sky News for giving her complaints a platform without due diligence . And Trevor Philips was a disgrace in listening to her litany of complaints without much pushback

    • Blogger says:

      Yup. These rats were eager to jump on the Sussex bandwagon without even critically thinking that “Hey, a while board has resigned but let’s the blame the Sussexes!”

      The FT have just shown how much they have fallen in their fact-checking department (do they even have one?) to allow this woman a platform without even perusing through the financial statements of Sentebale.

    • kirk says:

      The problem with British media when it comes to Meghan – they all lose their d**n minds! Even the normally sober FT that’s only written about Meghan a few times, sounds utterly unhinged every time Meghan is in the subject line. Sky News, even if doing a corrective piece, still manages to lard it with snark for Meghan. CNN (Max Foster) only managed to write a straight story about Sentebale before Chanfakery worked double-time to insert Meghan in the story.

  8. Jan says:

    Meghan has been attending Polo Matches with Harry before marrying him.
    Another lie that blew up in her face, was Meghan arrived late, when there is a video of Meghan, Harry and the bodyguard arriving together.
    Another lie debunked, was Harry changed the venue at the last minute, when Miami polo grounds raised their price and Nacho got another place that was cheaper.
    she did a video singing Netflix praise, and seemed to forget about it, claiming Harry ambushed her with Netflix cameras.
    CONdauka had a whole entourage there, guess she did not get into Meghan’s friends group and she felt slighted, maybe Meghan saw a serpent and kept away.

  9. Libra says:

    And the truth slowly dribbles out. Beware the rush to judgment, DM.

  10. Me at home says:

    Anybody wanna bet that the same “sources close to the former trustees” who talked to this guy also offered their version of events to the Fail and other British media? But you’ll never read it there.

  11. Eurydice says:

    It’s weird that Sophie would make all these statements while knowing there are receipts to the contrary. She might be greedy and grasping, I don’t know – but nothing in her bio says she’s stupid. And this is stupid. I’m really interested to see where this will go.

    • Lady Digby says:

      @Eurydice the Sky News interview was full of KP talking points and tabloidese and sounded ideal for MoS audience. Okay Trevor Phillips acknowledged knowing Sophie but why was he platforming her given the nonsense she was spouting about resenting Netflix giving global publicity to the charity she is meant to be promoting? Did Ian Rawlinson advise her to use FT and Sky news for a veneer of credibility after giving the first statement to the down-market Scum? She has mercifully not given any further interviews this weekend. Current Sky News article suggests both sides want to move on from polo match. Sophie may be angry but she is not the only senior person at Sentebale who is worried about the future of the charity. Maybe Sentebale insiders want her to stop rocking the boat?
      https://news.sky.com/story/truth-and-reconciliation-what-hopes-are-there-for-the-future-of-prince-harrys-charity-13341810

      • Blogger says:

        “My inbox has had constant updates from Meghan’s brand “As Ever”, you have to remember this was meant to be Meghan’s big week, where her new products, including flower sprinkles and raspberry spread, finally went on sale and sold out within hours.”

        🙄
        Sentebale has nothing to do with Meghan. Why are you complaining about your inbox being filled when you subscribed to her updates? Do better Rhiannon “Murdoch rat” Mills.

      • Eurydice says:

        Interesting take – that Harry isn’t fighting harder for Sentebale because of Meghan’s “commercial interests” and that, basically, all of his future philanthropy will have to accommodate Meghan’s businesses. Like – ok, so she wasn’t a bully at the polo match, but it’s still Meghan’s fault.

        All I can go by is the annual report on the Charity Commission website. In the most recent filing of 2023, it looks like Sentebale spent about 200,000 more than it took in. So, yeah, I imagine there was concern about finances. The report also says they they added more funding from other institutions and foundations – there’s an acknowledgement page with a good-sized list, which includes Nacho and W&K’s Royal Foundation. And they say they wanted to raise more unrestricted funds – that is, funds that can be used for general purposes.

        So, the narrative of wanting to increase funding, broaden funding sources and possibly broaden the mission makes sense. And a disagreement over how to do that also makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is what does Meghan have to do with any of this? Spouting off to the press about Meghan just makes Sophie look unhinged.

      • windyriver says:

        That’s odd – why is W&K’s foundation on that list?

      • Blogger says:

        @Windyriver the Rawlinson connection?

      • Eurydice says:

        @windyriver – I can’t tell why the Royal Foundation is on the list – it just says acknowledgements. But that’s usually donations of funds or some other help in kind.

      • windyriver says:

        Yes, that’s what’s odd, they weren’t going to be getting anything from W&K. Is it possible there was some Sentebale designated money remaining with that foundation? And that money was finally transferred, hence the inclusion on that list? No longer remember the timeline of when H&M split off from inclusion in the Royal Foundation…

      • Jaded says:

        @Blogger — I signed up to receive Meghan’s As Ever email updates and I’ve received 2. That’s hardly overflowing my inbox. This Murdoch worshipper is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

      • BeanieBean says:

        @Blogger & @Jaded: that also means, of course, that that ‘journalist’ signed up for updates from Meghan. Which…why do that if you can’t stand her, huh? 🙄

      • Blogger says:

        @Jaded and @Beaniebean facts aren’t sacred to these rats despite what The Guardian may say with their principal rat. Their bitchiness over what Meghan may or may not have done can be easily disproven.

        Rhiannon Mills the rat must be obsessed with Meghan’s insta because that’s the only way I am seeing daily news from Meghan – directly.

        Rhiannon Mills the rat (let’s repeat your name for the algorithm shall we? 😏) can easily unsubscribe from the As Ever occasional updates – nobody forced her to sign up.

        No more palace intermediaries rats! You ain’t that special! And again, sucks to be you bottom of the barrel feeders!

    • Nerd says:

      There’s a saying that a person can be book smart but not street smart. Thieves are rarely smart. It’s people believing that they can trust them that helps them succeed for a period of time, but they always get caught in the end.

    • kirk says:

      Re: “greedy and grasping” vs “nothing in her bio says she’s stupid” calls to mind the Dalai Lama (when he spoke about dictionary defined selfishness at Dharamsala, India in October 2019): “Selfishness is short-sighted and narrow-minded.” Or perhaps Dan Rather: “We are witnessing a death match between Selfishness and Stupidity” (Xwitter 10/5/2020).

      As another exhibit in the ‘selfishness vs stupidity’ philosophical question, consider the following https://www.everywoman.com/my-development/personal-brand-everywomanclub-member-sophie-chandauka/ — there’s another everywoman story out there about her ability to build strong networks 🙄

  12. Nanea says:

    Sad as it is, Sophie Chandauka really seems to suffer from some mental health issues — and someone in her circle should have taken her aside and talk to her before all this escalated into her changing her Wiki entry every few hours, lying on her degrees and achievements, erasing traces of her CV on her socials, before deleting them.

    But her friends, several of whom attended the polo match, and most of the new board members have since deleted their accounts too.

    So it seems we’re in for more “entertainment” from the warring factions of Sentebale — the ones who have Sentebale’s best interests at heart and those of the suffering people supported by the charity, and the ones who are the delulu Derangers (sorrynotsorry) on the new board, those who have scammed Sentebale.

    • Blogger says:

      Definitely wonder the state of her mental health. But she’s digging in so let herself dig out of this crater she’s created.

      I was LOLing with her reaction that the CC investigation was merely a “compliance” expedition on their part. Highly unlikely Sophie.

  13. Blogger says:

    “a 47-year-old Zimbabwean lawyer”

    Is she single? Jealous of the Sussexes partnership?

    “Sentebale was almost entirely reliant on money from Harry’s polo games and a $1.5m (£1.2m) donation from the proceeds of his memoir Spare.”

    Which she proceeded to spend on her bullshit consultant pivot shit 🙄 as someone has pointed out, your patron is also your major donor and she basically pissed him off and libelled him, his wife and her friend.

    “Harry’s friend Nacho Figueras had secured the alternative venue to the financial advantage of Sentebale after the original hosts in Miami had increased the costs.”

    Has Nacho said anything? And yes, with powerful friends, they can pull strings but in Sophie’s case she pays her friends to ruin the charity.

    “Chandauka confirmed the invitation but said she and the Sentebale team were informed less than 24 hours in advance of Meghan’s attendance.”

    So what? Sophie thought she OWNED Sentebale and Harry’s movements! 😂 The level of control she was exercising over this charity and Harry was and is unhealthy. It’s not your vehicle Sophie. As chair, you’re accountable to the trustees who collectively resigned because of you.

    She really is giving Palace vibes with her interviews last week: “You didn’t break up with me, I broke off with you!”

    “ under which bank accounts can be investigated and replacement staff brought in to run the charity.”

    As they ought. 👍

  14. Aurora says:

    What is it about Harry that makes women who aren’t his wife act so possessively? I don’t get it.

    • Blogger says:

      Beats me. They must think he must be some sort of novelty. Never had a thing for redheads so he doesn’t physically float my boat, but I admire him for leaving a corrupt Palace system and shining light on its awful symbiotic relationship with the tabloid industry.

      It’s mutually assured destruction and if the Palace goes down, so will the tabloids. And vice versa.

    • Snuffles says:

      I know, right!? SO many women be losing their damn minds over Harry! I mean, he is handsome and charming, but so are a lot of other men. Is it the mythos of being Diana’s boy? Is it his aura? I don’t get it.

    • Jais says:

      That’s a good question actually. We know Kate was like that too. I’m guessing he just has that kindness and charisma that he treats everyone with. But for some women, they interpret it as something more. Thinking it makes them special when he is so kind and charismatic and funny with them. But that’s just him being him. And he probably needs that alonechill down time after being around people and only his wife gets to see that side.

      • Blogger says:

        That’s why I wonder if Sophie is single, has had major past relationships because her behaviour towards Harry and his wife is so unhealthy. SWF and Fatal Attraction levels maybe.

      • Jais says:

        I’m 44 and single and I wouldn’t do that. No idea why she is behaving a mess. Some people are just like that, single or not😂

      • Jaded says:

        I’ve checked her Wiki and other sources and the only other charitable work she’s done is her first time around with Sentebale which ended amicably in 2015. When the board chair position became available she basically bullied her way into an interview even though she hadn’t been short-listed. Neither can I find any reference to a marriage partner. Small wonder…

      • IFoxi says:

        Part of it could be seeing Harry treat Meghan like a goddess, as she deserves. Seeing a male person continually treat women in his orbit with actual care and respect can be a little intoxicating! Like Alan Alda back in the day… Barack Obama…

        But of course, with Harry and Meghan, people drive it overboard, deranger style, or fangirl/boy style.

        Let them live, people!

    • sevenblue says:

      I also think, Harry is cute and all, but all these women acting like a bitter ex over him make me think that he must have a crazy charisma in person. If it was only because of Diana’s legacy, it would be the same for Will.

    • Me at home says:

      @Aurora, for me it’s really admirable—-and sexy—that he stuck by his wife and family so hard that he left the toxic UK to protect them. He continues to protect his wife and family, and to me that’s mad sexy. FWIW, I’m not really into pasty redheads. I’m also a white woman with lots of cousins in the UK (mostly Cambridge educated up to the doctorate level, and one of them is even hereditary nobility lol, and all of them laugh about W and K, but that’s a digression). When a guy stands up for his family like that, yeah, I either want to protect him or find that sexy, I can’t decide. And every time I venture onto the Fail I want to protect Meghan from the hideous, blatant, toxic racism.

      • Me at home says:

        Realizing my post disempowers Meghan. She’s an absolute strong goddess. But my point, that Harry is sexy because he’s so clearly on her side, remains true for me.

  15. MsIam says:

    Sophie must have done something awful involving the money in question. If it were just a disagreement with the board about spending, she wouldn’t be acting this desperate, lmo. All this lying and crying she’s doing is crazy when she could have just quietly resigned and moved on. That’s basically what she did at the other charity she left in debt.

    • Blogger says:

      Which charity was that one?

    • Eurydice says:

      I wonder if the board found out her CV wasn’t as truthful as it should be. I’d think the search committee for the new chair would have done a background check, but if she bullied them for an interview and threatened a law suit, maybe they just hurried things along and didn’t bother.

      • fwiw says:

        @Eurydice. From what I read, her BBBA, founded in 2014, was going under financially, even in debt for taxes. Then in 2020, George Floyd was killed, Black Lives Matter was in the news, and a way for businesses to say they weren’t racist was to give to BBBA. It now has an impressive list of sponsors for their annual awards, and Sophie is its Chair.

        It’s possible the search committee and Sentebale Board saw that even though her charity went broke under her she was able to raise funds to turn it around financially. Fundraising was what they then needed at Sentebale, rather than changing to a “growing social enterprise” in climate change or something.

  16. Jais says:

    Yeah, I’ve been baffled. All she had to do was just step down when asked. I doubt anyone would have said a negative word and would have wished her well. And now she’s getting caught out as lying on an international stage.

    • Lady Digby says:

      @Jais she could have chosen the dignified option to spend more time on the successful company she has founded with her brother?? Why cling on, go to the High Court to get an injunction to keep board from holding meetings for 6 weeks from 5 March to prevent them from voting her out. 10 March Board and Patrons let her know they will stand down together rather than seeing the charity mired in expensive legal action. She knows anything to do with Harry will be scrutinized and it will get wall to wall publicity. She then goes on the war path throwing out inflammatory claims whilst Will’ s chum is seated next to her looking like FK has approved the hit on his brother. Okay she hasn’t hired Jason Knauf (so far) but it has all been the opposite of a moderate and considered approach. She’s supposed to be highly intelligent and professional lawyer but her presentation of her case has been full of wild allegations and easily proven false hoods. She has also mired her charity in controversy destabilising her ability to fundraise. The C C warn against courting publicity and the danger of rebounding.

      • Jais says:

        What a mess. She’s been quiet for a few days so I wonder if she’s sensing the backlash. Feels kind of too late. I’m curious to see if she’ll double down or not. I can kind of see it happening though.

  17. Hypocrisy says:

    This is all to deflect the attention away from the money and who she gave it to and why.. I’m waiting for the investigation results I’m sure they will show this lady is truly a horrible human and I’m sure there will be financial fraud involved.

  18. Gail Hirst says:

    When Sentebale is back under Prince S & Prince H’s control, I pledge to donate 1/3 of my monthly grocery budget to help the charity get back to a healthy financial footing. I hope we all band together and do a fund raiser for them because this woman seems to have decimated their financial stability and stymied their good works.
    This is not ‘good trouble’. This is bad stuff. As I’ve been saying all along, follow the money. Who is paying for this woman’s legal fees? Why was that Iain guy, who is Prince W’s man, already part of the Sentebale discussion panel back in October 2024? Was H aware already there was a snake in the grass? Ultimately, we may never know the answers. What we do know is the name Sentebale is trademarked, so to use it for any other purpose than what was intended is a violation of the trademark. If nothing else, can’t she be sued for trademark infringement?

    • Blogger says:

      The CC took 2 years over the Captain Tom Foundation so it will probably take that long to unravel Sophie’s control. You would need a new board in as well. Unlike Captain Tom which was basically nepotistically run, Sentebale had 20 years of being professionally run until
      Sophie took control as Chair. Did she have a crush on Harry all that time? Was she even invited to his wedding? 😳

      I don’t know what type of person would willingly want to be CEO of Sentebale unless miraculously Sophie states that she’s now both Chair and CEO 😂

      She has a South African woman as interim but she’s given the current board a PR mess to work with and Rawlinson’s platinum standard palace behaviour and presence there is sure going to attract donors 😏 maybe from Saudi Arabia. Or Russia.

    • kirk says:

      There’s really no point donating to American Friends of Sentebale Foundation until Charity Commission finishes its investigation. The web page for making donations has already started rendering weirdly anyway. I would definitely want to see they’ve tightened internal control policy and procedures if they survive.

      • Blogger says:

        She’ll sell the donors list. Sell personal information to the tabloids if she hasn’t already.

        Every move she now makes should be scrutinised by the CC now that they’ve announced an investigation, especially intentions of a cover-up.

  19. Amy Bee says:

    I think the British press is realising that they gave too much credence to Sophie’s accusations. It’s so bad that Sophie now has Trevor Phillips out here trying to vouch for her. The truth will come out and Sophie and her new trustees will have to step down.

  20. Julie says:

    Sophie is a con artist who is being left to twist in the wind now that the people behind (Iain Rawlinson and Prince William) the hostile takeover don’t seem to be supporting her as much as they were in the beginning.
    All of this was to cause disarray and to disparage Prince Harry’s name and efforts regarding the beloved Charity that he founded. His brother will stop at nothing to destroy him (endeavors, marriage, security, etc). Harry’s family is absolutely diabolical and this Sophie person was an easy way to gain access to the charity and destroy it from within. I’m sure they monitor all of his business dealings and charitable efforts and are constantly seeking ways to ruin him.
    Sophie is a grifter, whom I’m sure has stole thousands of dollars. She has deep envy towards Meghan, her husband and the life that she has. That makes anyone like her incredibly dangerous if they’re being funded in their efforts to hurt Harry. His family just happen to choose the wrong person this time since she’s so unhinged and contradictory.

    Prince Harry really needs to cut ties with his family publicly once in for all and call out the BS. These public, aggressive and hostile attempts will only escalate and worsen once William takes the throne.

    • Blogger says:

      “ His family just happen to choose the wrong person this time since she’s so unhinged and contradictory.”

      This. That’s why I think Rawlinson was there to placate her so she doesn’t totally go off her rocker. But she did 😂

      All I can repeat is, Serena? SERENA? SERENA?!!!!

      I hope the CC comes down with a report that states she’s not a fit nor proper person to hold a directorship. That will destroy her career in the UK. And will save other UK charities from appointing her as well.

  21. therese says:

    All of these machinations are just Sophie’s desperate attempts in the aftermath to make excuses. I do hope she is thoroughly found out and exposed. I do wonder if she was recruited by the palace, and felt like she would be funded by the palace and thus felt free to be fast with the charities’ funds.

  22. Desert Diva says:

    I think she misrepresented this entire situation to attach Harry and Meghan BM talking points once again. She could have easily aired her concerns about the charity, the board, etc. without adding the Duke and the Duchess into the mix. All of this has made her an unsympathetic character on all sides. Also, , Sentebale needs some merch. The pretty blue flowers with yellow center are so sweet. A necklace, t shirt or hat on Meghan and Delfi would sell out quickly. Once the two princes are back in, they need to up their fundraising game!

    • Magdalena says:

      You are giving her WAY too much grave which she does not deserve. She knew exactly what she was doing. She had no concerns about the charity and the board except for the fact that they asked her to step down and were about to vote on it (and it would have been unanimous) which is why she announced that she had taken legal action. The legal action was to cling to the chair, not because she had concerns. Which makes everyone wonder WHY she is so keen to cling to this voluntary position, if not to cover her nefarious activities with the charity’s money.

  23. aquarius64 says:

    Trevor Phillips was doing clean up on ailse 4 forr Sophie in the Sun, trying to clean up her reputation, and his. It was revealed on X that a “consultant” who had past ties to Jason Knauf was paid over £14K.

    • Blogger says:

      Paid for what exactly? To knife Harry in the back? 🙄

      Really Willie, the minions you keep sending are so transparent and incompetent.

    • Julia says:

      It’s embarrassing for him that he needs to debase himself by writing in the Sun. The most toxic tabloid in the UK. Obviously the Times refused to publish it.

  24. Lady Digby says:

    Sophie has accused others of bullying and yet made threats to ensure she was interviewed for CoB position. She carried out legal threat to prevent the board from voting to remove her. She forced them to resign by threatening to embroil the charity in an expensive legal battle. She threatened to sue them all as trustees of Sentebale if they voted her out. Well now she’s very much in charge but she bullied the entire board to remain in post.

    • Magdalena says:

      Exactly this. Every single thing she has done proves that SHE has been the bully from Day 1. But imagine caving to a woman who made threats in order to muscle in on an interview process when there was already a shortlist? Why did the recruiting company allow this?

  25. Tn Democrat says:

    Willy: This psycho minion is going to have significant issues finding another job and significant legal issues for destroying a charity/laundering assets meant to help CHILDREN to “consultants”. She is going to be a thorn in your side into infinity and this isn’t going to diminish the Sussexes at all. This ain’t Meghan’s dad and half-sister who are content to receive a bag ‘o cash and will do as they are told and keep quiet about where the money comes from and who coaches them. Every bit of this is coming out eventually.

    • Mslove says:

      It will come out, but Peg will be protected. Honestly, though, it would be in the UK’s best interest to expose Peg for the dangerous bully he is so Peg’s focus can be shifted to the country’s interests instead of Meghan & Harry. Peg should use his rage against the UK’s actual enemies, that would make more sense.

      • Tessa says:

        Peg will have a fall guy or lady to take the blame. Something like Fawcett being Charles fall guy.

  26. L4Frimaire says:

    This whole polo podium shuffle drama is to distract from her misuse of funds and not doing the job she was put in place to do. She didn’t deliver results, refuses to leave and thinks smearing the Sussexes will hide her mismanagement and losing the confidence of all the trustees. She had no interest in the real needs and purpose of Sentabale if she wants to pivot toward climate change or wherever she thinks the big dollars are. Then to be caught blatantly lying about an event like this is really dumb and amateurish.

    • L4Frimaire says:

      Also her so-called plans for “scaling up”Sentabale are nonsense considering what is happening in the world right now with the global havoc the Trump administration is wreaking with gutting USAID and imposing these insanely high blanket tariffs. “One of the highest tariff rates, 50 percent, was imposed on the African nation of Lesotho, whose average citizen earns less than $5 a day.” I hope regardless of the Charity Commission outcome, that Harry and Seeiso will find a way to continue Sentabale’s mission in Lesotho.

      • fwiw says:

        @L4Frimaire. All the Trump tariffs are devastating but this one is also heartbreaking. I learned a lot about Lesotho from reading the articles. I hope readers will recognize the value of Harry helping the children there for almost two decades.

        I wonder if there is another charity doing good work there, and not wasting donor dollars on friends and relatives and a professional consultant who can advise on how to keep power? This might be a good time for it to raise money, well, but for the fact Trump has destroyed almost everyone’s finances.

      • Lissen says:

        @fwiw
        Please check out kick4life. It’s doing good work via soccer. It’s twinned with the football club in Wrexham, Wales.

        https://www.kick4life.org/about-kick4life-f-c/

  27. fwiw says:

    @Eurydice. Interesting about W&K Foundation supporting Sentebale in 2023. Maybe even now. Perhaps they always have, since William was in on the founding, wasn’t he? Possible that if W is behind the current mess, he isn’t trying to destroy Sentebale’s important work, but just take it away from Harry, to whom it means so much.

    Was Jason Knauf in charge of the W&K Foundation in 2023 when this contribution was made? Feminegra says Jason was a former colleague of Sarah Essien, who is one of Sophie’s “consultants.” Sarah worked closely with Sophie at Morgan Stanley and now works for her at Nandi. I’m really curious as to where and when Sarah & Jason worked together, if true. While Rawlinson is a suggestion of William’s hand in this catastrophe, Knauf the Knife would essentially be confirmation.

    • fwiw says:

      Jason Knauf left W&K’s Foundation in 2022. He’s now an Earthshot trustee, a consultant for his own firm named Mission Overstory, and a global leadership fellow with Conservation International. Sounds like a shoe-in if Sentebale switches its mission to climate change.

    • Blogger says:

      Knife worked for Bank of Scotland/RBS in their clean up (PR) department before Willie so I suspect that could be one possibility of how they crossed paths.

      The 50% tariffs against Lesotho are especially cruel…there goes US donors and Sophie’s ambitions for a “social enterprise.”

      Someone posted about how Sophie sees these kids as a source of low-cost labour…yeah, that would make sense…

      • Magdalena says:

        I didn’t even think that Trump knew that Lesotho existed. Why single out that country for SUCH a high tariff? What has Lesotho got that they refused to let Trump and his influencers and handlers have?

  28. Steph says:

    Meh. Palmer is a liar. I’ll believe she acknowledged sending the invite when I see where she confirmed it. Especially, bc as stated, why the hell would Meg need an invite? Hasn’t she been to all of his matches since they started dating?

    If there was any confusion it would be bc Meg was trying to work out a conflict in the schedule and my guess is that she made it clear that she was doing her best to make sure to be in attendance but couldn’t give a concrete answer until the day before.

    Regardless, is the Polo series was any indication, the venues are huge and don’t usually fill house. There was no reason her and Serena bring there on short notice should have been an issue unless the whole thing was already a mess.

  29. Lau says:

    I think that when the tabloids are starting to get receipts out against you it’s the moment to freak out and stop telling lies.

  30. Over it says:

    Sophie is of the opinion that in sophie world, and only sophie world, where reality doesn’t exist. Meghan is the other woman . Sophie and only sophie should be front and center in Harry life . Hence why she wants to be next to Harry , why she only speaks about Harry as the patron in this charity and completely blanks Prince seisso. The woman has a deranged obsession with Harry and hence why she is acting like a scorned lover when he said he is resigning. I would suggest she take a break and a step far far back and go help she seems to desperately need.

  31. JFerber says:

    Sorry, all I can think about is how hot Harry is. DAMN!!!

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