Following the turmoil Prince Harry stirred with his controversial memoir, “Spare,” which deeply affected the late Queen, it seemed unimaginable that I would ever feel any sympathy for him.
However, that moment has arrived with his cherished charity, Sentebale, now pursuing a libel lawsuit against him.
Early this morning, at 6:30 a.m., Harry and Meghan touched down in Melbourne, embarking on what could be a successful four-day tour of Australia, including stops in Canberra and Sydney. The tour is centered on themes of mental health, community resilience, and support for veterans and their families, complemented by private engagements and special initiatives.
Their first visit was to the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, where a crowd awaited them. The Sussexes took selfies with children undergoing treatment and engaged warmly with parents and hospital staff.
Prince Harry and Meghan appeared at ease and in good spirits following their 15-hour journey from Los Angeles, where they left their children, Archie and Lilibet.
Yet, the shadow of the Sentebale lawsuit looms large. Instead of the anticipated headlines proclaiming “The Sussexes Down Under,” the news has been dominated by the legal action taken by the charity he co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho two decades ago, in memory of Princess Diana. They have filed a case in the High Court in London, alleging defamation by Harry and former Sentebale trustee Mark Dyer.
It’s the latest bout in a bitter row between Harry, who resigned as patron last year along with other disgruntled trustees, and the charity’s chair Dr Sophie Chandauka.
Amid claims that Chandauka’s chairmanship was ‘almost dictatorial’ and the running of the charity ‘untenable’, Harry said that he was standing down as patron with a ‘heavy heart’.
There has been a very public war of words between the Duke of Sussex and Dr Chandauka, with the charity accusing Prince Harry of conducting a ‘media campaign’
The couple looked relaxed and cheerful after their 15–hour flight from Los Angeles where they had left Archie and Lilibet
He added that the ‘relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair’, and friends said Harry was ‘left emotionally devastated by the events, after 19 years of working with the charity’.
There followed a very public war of words between the Prince and Dr Chandauka, with the charity in the legal suit now accusing Prince Harry and his ‘second dad’ Mark Dyer – the red–haired royal equerry who acted as mentor to William and Harry in the wake of Princess Diana’s death – of conducting a ‘media campaign’ against the charity that has caused it harm and forced it to divert resources into ‘managing a reputational crisis not of the charity’s making’.
Forget all the legal complications, though. It must have hit Harry like a bomb from hell when he was served the legal papers.
This after all, is a cause that could not be closer to his and his late mother’s hearts – a charity that supports orphan and Aids.
Understandably, Harry and Mark Dyer have fired back: ‘As Sentebale’s co–founder and a founding trustee, they categorically reject these offensive and damaging claims,’ their spokesman said. ‘It is extraordinary that charitable funds are now being used to pursue legal action against the very people who built and supported the organisation for nearly two decades, rather than being directed to the communities the charity was created to serve.’
Who knows where this will end? But what is clear is that there is no love lost between Dr Chandauka and the Prince. Last year, when the Charity Commission intervened in the dispute, they cleared Harry of allegations made by Dr Chandauka, finding no evidence of ‘widespread bullying, harrassment or misogyny’.
She had also accused him of ‘misogynoir’ – a new world to add to our vocabulary meaning discrimination against black women. But surely that was a laugh out loud moment, given that Harry is married to Meghan, herself a woman of mixed race.
It has to be said that all parties in the saga were criticised for allowing an internal dispute to even become public.
The exact details of the defamation claim have not been made public, but Sentebale said it was seeking the High Court’s ‘intervention, protection and restitution’. Pictured: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Australia today
But now for Harry to be accused formally in the High Court of bad–mouthing the charity he set up must be utterly bewildering.
It is worth noting donations to the charity have haemorrhaged since Harry’s departure.
And while Dr Chandauka insists that no monies from the charity’s £3million plus budget will be spent on the litigation, and that it is being paid for by ‘external funds’, when asked by The Times newspaper who was actually financing the case, Sentable refused to comment.
The exact details of the defamation claim have not been made public, but Sentebale said it was seeking the High Court’s ‘intervention, protection and restitution’ after what they claim is a ‘coordinated media campaign’ against them by Prince Harry.
Worth noting here the mention of ‘restitution’ could mean millions in damages. Call me a cynic but is this what all it is really all about – bolstering Sentable’s diminishing funding?
And could it be true that the fallout between Prince Harry and Chandauka actually began not over governance of the charity but when the Duchess of Sussex moved Chandauka out of a photo op to be beamed across the world after a 2024 charity polo match, Meghan insisting she was snapped next to her Prince.
Could the once proud charity Sentebale – meaning forget–me–not – now be so mired in litigation it is losing sight of the very children it was set up for and vowed to protect?
All are questions that may yet be answered in the High Court.
But let us not forget in the meantime that more than 78,000 of Africa’s most deprived children mostly orphans are inflicted with HIV and Aids are helped by Sentebale every year, and they need every penny they can get.
It’s hard top see how this litigation will help them. Or how it will do anything other than upset Harry.
