There are fears the future of Prince Harry following the scandal that’s erupted over his beloved charity Sentebale and accusations of harassment and bullying levelled at him.
The exiled royal felt devastated after conflict at the organisation in Lesotho, Africa – that he co-founded in memory of his late mother Princess Diana – led to him walking away from it.
After Harry said he was in shock at what had happened, the charity’s chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, hit back, claiming the Sussex brand is “toxic”.
The duke now has only the Invictus Games and UK charity WellChild to champion, and is not currently working on any programmes as part of his Netflix deal. Sources say he rarely leaves the California mansion he shares with his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and their children Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three, and is now increasingly lonely and isolated.
This latest incident is a huge blow, says a source close to the prince. “There’s no way of sugar-coating the damage of this. He’ll be reeling.”
The incident blew up after Harry – who set up Sentebale with Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso in 2006 to support organisations working with disadvantaged children, particularly those with AIDS and HIV – resigned as patron along with Seeiso. He said people forced them to step back in solidarity with the board of trustees, who have quit over a “broken relationship” with Sophie.
Some followers believe some of the issues are over disagreements about funding. Sophie has since said that controversy surrounding Harry, 40, since his move to the US has impacted the charity’s ability to find donors.
“The number-one risk for this organisation was the toxicity of the lead patron’s brand,” she says. “When you start to interview people, they’re asking questions about these mixed messages around the patron.”
A highly-charged statement issued by Sentebale after Harry announced his resignation says, “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.”
Zimbabwean Sophie, a lawyer who trained in London, has made some damning claims against the trustees, including Harry. She alleged she has experienced “disrespect, bullying and intimidation”, as well as “misogyny and misogynoir” [misogyny directed at Black women]. The trustees have denied this.
She also hit out at the prince directly, claiming he and Meghan caused problems at a charity polo match to raise money for Sentebale last year. Sophie, 47, says Meghan confirmed she wouldn’t be attending, then at the last minute, showed up with tennis star Serena Williams.
During an award presentation photocall, Meghan, 43, twice asked Sophie to move away from Harry, resulting in Sophie having to duck under the trophy.
“We’d have felt excited had we known ahead of time that Meghan was coming, but we didn’t,” says Sophie. “And so the choreography went badly on stage because we had too many people.”
Media covering the event wrote about the awkward encounter and Sophie says Harry asked her to issue a statement in support of Meghan, but she said no.
“Not because I didn’t care about the duchess, but because I knew what would happen if I did,” she tells. “And because we cannot be an extension of the Sussexes and their publicity machine.”
Sophie also recounted how Harry affected a charity polo event because he wanted a Netflix camera crew to attend. She pointed out that Sentebale would need the consent of the venue owners, who then considered the event a commercial venture instead of a charitable one when told about the cameras. “We couldn’t afford it,” says Sophie. “As a result, we lost the venue.”
Royal experts say the debacle has reinforced other claims that Harry and Meghan are difficult.
“The fall-out with Sentebale only cements the suspicion that they are not easy people to work with,” says royal historian Hugo Vickers. “The Sussex brand is now tainted.”
Royal biographer Robert Jobson agrees the latest incident does nothing to help the way the public perceives the prince.
“Harry’s no longer seen as a victim of circumstance, but as an architect of his own downfall. His credibility’s eroded and with it, the instinct to support him.”
Harry wants his legacy to be one of helping those less fortunate, says royal writer Matt Wilkinson. However, but he’s not having the impact he hoped for.
“He’s increasingly looking like a spare to Meghan – and it’s not a good look.”
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