Claims against Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are ‘baseless’ and a ‘deflection’ by charity boss, sources blast – as leadership row continues and ‘damning’ videos emerge
Accusations made against Prince Harry and Meghan Markle by the boss of his charity are ‘highly misleading’ and ‘baseless’, a source has told MailOnline.
In an explosive interview, Sentebale trustee chairman Sophie Chandauka claimed donors dropped their support because of the prince’s reputation after he quit his royal duties.
She also alleged that Harry ‘unleashed the Sussex machine’ on her in a case of ‘harassment and bullying at scale’ after she tried to bring in changes.
But royal sources close to the Duke have hit back calling accusations that he had personally harassed and bullied her a ‘deflection’ and that the resignation of the trustees and him was as a ‘direct result of the chair’s mismanagement’.
Claims that the prince’s requests were nodded through by acolytes on the board of trustees were also described as ‘completely baseless’.
Dr Chandauka claimed the prince nearly derailed a polo match to raise funds for Sentebale in April last year by insisting on bringing a Netflix camera crew.
She also told how Meghan had said she would not attend the event – but turned up with a celebrity friend, now revealed to be tennis star Serena Williams, and caused chaotic scenes when the trophy was presented.
The incident, where the duchess appeared to usher the charity boss away from her husband on stage, led to media criticism of Meghan’s behaviour.
In a bombshell new interview, Sentebale chairman Dr Sophie Chandauka has made several damaging claims against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, calling their brand ‘toxic’
Dr Chandauka (left) with Prince Harry attending a Sentebale reception and panel discussion at The Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa — October 3, 2024
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex during the Royal Salute Polo Challenge, to benefit Sentebale, at the USPA National Polo Center in Wellington, Florida — April 12, 2024
Dr Chandauka told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips that Harry ‘asked me to issue some sort of a statement in support of the duchess’ – but she refused.
‘Not because I didn’t care about the duchess, but because I knew what would happen if I did so, number one. And number two, because we cannot be an extension of the Sussexes,’ she said.
She accused Meghan of causing ‘disruption’ after turning up at short notice and bringing her ‘very famous friend’ Williams.
‘We would have been really excited had we known ahead of time, but we didn’t,’ she said.
‘And so the choreography went badly on stage because we had too many people on stage.’
Harry and Meghan have refused to comment publicly on the row, which exploded last week when it emerged he was to step down from the organisation he founded nearly 20 years ago.
Describing the situation when Harry insisted the Netflix crew join him at a fundraising event, Dr Chandauka said they had secured the use of a polo ground in Miami at a ‘material discount’.
But about a month before the event, Harry called the team and allegedly said: ‘I’m doing a Netflix show, and I would love to bring a camera crew so that I can include some footage in this show.’
Meghan Markle speaks with Serena Williams at the 2024 Royal Salute Polo Challenge for Sentebale on April 12, 2024, in Wellington, Florida
Dr Chandauka (third from right) claimed the Sussexes’ brand had become ‘toxic’ (pictured at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge held in Florida in April last year to raise funds for Sentebale)
Prince Harry and Dr Chandauka during the Royal Salute Polo Challenge to benefit Sentebale, at the USPA National Polo Center in Wellington, Florida — April 12, 2024
Harry and Meghan kiss after the Duchess presented the trophy to her husband after his team the Royal Salute Sentebale Team defeated the Grand Champions Team — April 12 ,2024
The Duke of Sussex plays in a polo match during the Royal Salute Polo Challenge at The USPA National Polo Center in Wellington, Florida — April 12, 2024
Dr Chandauka said: ‘I said, “You can’t be doing the things without seeking consent from the property owners, the sponsors, all the guests”.
‘Nobody signed up into being on a Netflix show and so we have this discussion about the need to talk to everybody, we come up with draft agreements and, of course, the venue owner says, “This is now a commercial undertaking, so here are my terms”.
‘We couldn’t afford it so now we lost the venue, so we went to another venue, and we were lucky enough that through Prince Harry’s connections and a friend of his there was another family that was prepared to host.
‘The show went on, but there was a lot of disruption. A lot of people were unhappy because we’d worked on this for months.’
Sentebale, which Harry co-founded in memory of his late mother Princess Diana with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, dedicates itself to tackling poverty and Aids in both Lesotho and Botswana.
But it was plunged into chaos when he quit last week in solidarity with his co-founder and the entire board of trustees following a relationship breakdown with Zimbabwean lawyer Dr Chandauka, who refused their request to step down.
Allegations of bullying against Dr Chandauka then followed, which she denies.
She said ‘the only reason’ she gave yesterday’s interview was because ‘Prince Harry authorised the release of a damaging piece of news to the outside world without informing me or my country directors, or my executive director.
‘And can you imagine what that attack has done for me, on me and the 540 individuals in the Sentebale organisations and their family? That is an example of harassment and bullying at scale.’
She also blasted the ‘toxicity’ of the Sussex ‘brand’ and went on to accuse the duke of trying to eject her through ‘bullying’ and the ‘unleashing of the Sussex machine’.
She said yesterday that a review of the charity’s finances in July 2023 after she became chairman revealed donors began departing after Harry and Meghan left the Royal Family.
‘When you look at the board minutes, though, there is no discussion about what’s happening with respect to some of our most significant funders,’ she said.
‘And then when you discuss with the senior executive team and ask why there isn’t a conversation about this, the answer is it’s really difficult to have this conversation because … it’s an uncomfortable conversation to have with Prince Harry in the room.’
The dispute between the board and chairman is understood to have arisen around a decision to focus fundraising in Africa.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey, who served as a trustee for 20 years, described Dr Chandauka as ‘almost dictatorial’. And the five trustees who resigned said the ‘devastating’ decision was the ‘result of our loss in trust and confidence in the chair of the board’.
Dr Chandauka claims that, before the charity Polo event in 2024, Meghan confirmed she would not be attending – before showing up with Serena Williams
Dr Chandauka speaks during the Sentebale ‘Potential is Waiting’ panel discussion at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida — April 11, 2024
Prince Seeiso of Lesotho and Prince Harry attend a welcome event at the Mamohato Children’s Centre in Maseru, Lesotho — October 1, 2024
While a spokesman for the Sussexes did not comment on the claims, it is understood they consider that Dr Chandauka’s accusations that he had personally harassed and bullied her are a ‘deflection’ and that the resignation of the trustees and him was as a ‘direct result of the chair’s mismanagement’.
Sources also insist Sentebale was in a stable financial position when she was appointed in 2023 and suggest that blaming any loss in revenue on Harry leaving the UK in 2020 is ‘baseless and inaccurate’, not least because the charity was ‘almost entirely reliant’ on the use of his name for fundraising.
Meanwhile, sources have said Dr Chandauka’s account of the debacle around last year’s polo match in Miami is ‘highly misleading’.
They suggest the original venue had already changed its terms, resulting in a rise in costs, which meant the charity had no option but to find a new site with the help of Harry’s friend and fellow polo player, Nacho Figueras.
They say the decision had nothing to do with Netflix.
A source familiar with events around Harry’s resignation also flatly denied Dr Chandauka’s version of events about how the story was leaked last week, saying she was informed of his decision by letter on March 10.
It is understood that trustees privately asked her to consider her position due to their ‘lack of trust and confidence in her as a leader’, in particular what they say is the financial position she put the charity in.
