Prince Harry’s ‘unpleasant’ message to the chair of his Sentebale charity ‘reinforced ideas that he is used to people being subservient to him’.
The Mail understands that the royal sent the ‘extraordinary’ text message to Sophie Chandauka demanding to know how she was going to deal with the public debacle involving his wife Meghan, who was being accused of snubbing her at a fundraising polo match.
Sources have described the message as ‘basically very unpleasant’, ‘imperious’ and ‘fairly extraordinary’ in tone, and asking her ‘how are you going to deal with this?’
It is understood the message ‘would reinforce others people’s ideas that he is used to people being subservient to him’.
The detail comes amid a catastrophic fall-out between Harry and the trustees of Sentebale, the charity he set up almost 20 years ago to help AIDS orphans in Lesotho, southern African, and Ms Chandauka.
They have resigned en masse, demanding her resignation and claiming that relationship between them has broken down beyond repair.
Ms Chandauka, who took up the position in 2023 after serving for several years as a trustee herself, was yesterday forced to close her public social media accounts due to the vitriolic level of hate and ‘trolling’ she was being subjected to by fans of the Sussexes.
However sources say while unpleasant, she has no intention of stepping down and is determined to focus on what it is most important – delivering much needed services to communities in Lesotho and Botswana.
The ‘highly awkward’ moment at a fundraising polo match for Sentebale in the US last year
Dr Sophie Chandauka, the chair of Prince Harry’s beleaguered charity Sentebale, is seen with the Duke of Sussex in October last yearÂ
Dr Chandauka is pictured with the Sussexes at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge held in Florida in April last year to raise funds for Sentebale
In interviews at the weekend she called the Sussexes’ brand ‘toxic’ and accused Harry of ‘harassment and bullying at scale’, a claim that is strongly denied.
Much of the issue centres on a charity polo match in Miami last year which Ms Chandauka says was derailed by the prince’s insistence on bringing along a Netflix film crew with him to shoot scenes for a documentary he was making. She believes it resulted in the charity losing the venue.
When the event was re-organised, she says, Meghan turned up unannounced, bringing along with her a friend, tennis star Serena Williams.
At a prize giving ceremony the ensuing chaos on stage saw Ms Chandauka seemingly elbowed out by the Duchess of Sussex in a highly awkward exchange that was caught on camera.
It is alleged Harry asked her to make a statement ‘in support of the duchess’ which she refused, saying it was important that the charity wasn’t seen as an ‘extension of the Sussexes’.
This was in part because Harry’s decision to quit the Royal Family had been proving problematic for the charity in terms of decision-making and attracting sponsors, she has alleged.
The text message is alleged to have come after that and triggered what is believed to be an all-out effort to secure her departure by the prince and the charity’s trustees, many of whom were close friends who had served on the board for many years.
Ms Chandauka was seemingly elbowed out by the Duchess of Sussex in a highly awkward exchange that was caught on camera
Dr Chandauka (pictured) has accused Sentebale and its trustees of racist, sexist and bullying conduct
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are seen during the Royal Salute Polo Challenge to benefit Sentebale
Meghan asked Dr Sophie Chandauka not to stand next to Prince Harry for a picture after he won
Sources say Ms Chandauka believed there was a ‘strong principle’ at stake, which was that it would be wrong to confuse the charity’s own objectives with Harry’s personal ‘brand’.
Amid a slew of claim and counter claims, what is also clear is that Ms Chandauka is determined to stand her ground.
As a Serious Incident Report (SIR) lodged by her with the Charity Commission is investigated, she says she will focus on enabling Sentebale’s 540 in-country staff to continue their work, delivering much needed health, education and youth opportunity policies to young people in the region.
Sources categorically deny suggestions the charity is close to collapse as a result of the boardroom battle and stress that both Ms Chandauka and the teams on the ground are getting on with their work.
Ms Chandauka herself said at the weekend that she had ‘a great relationship with Harry’ and sources close to the charity insist that he remains ‘respected and admired’ in Lesotho for the work he did there ‘and no-one can take this away from him’.
But it is clear that the trustees, now backed by the prince, ‘want Sophie out’ over her attempts to bring the command structure of the charity away from London and ‘back to Africa’.
‘Times have moved on and what was good 20 years ago isn’t the best operating model now,’ a source told the Mail.
‘Local leadership is the correct way to run a charity focused in Africa.
‘The trustees couldn’t seem to accept this. ‘
Prince Harry pictured on a visit to Lesotho with Ntoli Moletsane of Sentebale in October last year
Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho quit as patrons of the charity they had founded in solidarity with trustees who said they could not carry on under Dr Chandauka
Prince Harry pictured in conversation with Dr Chandauka during an event in Miami last April
Ms Chandauka herself has stated that Prince Harry hadn’t been to Lesotho for five years before his last visit in October 2024, which came at her request.
Observers have described this as ‘quite telling’ and questioned how much his focus had been on Sentebale since moving to the US and setting up his and Meghan’s join philanthropic and commercial arm, Archewell.
There is also strong anger at comments made in the Mail today by Alex Rayner, a friend of the prince who claims he has been in contact with him over the weekend and been ‘authorised’ to speak for him, who claimed: ‘It feels like [Ms Chandauka ] had her nose put out of joint because she was not the most important woman of colour on the stage’.
Sources have described the claims as ‘outrageous’ and ‘offensive’ and come from someone who ‘would say ‘woman of colour’ and pat himself on the back for doing so’.
‘She [Ms Chandauka] is a determined person and will look after herself, but for her it’s about the charity. What she is concerned about is the wellbeing of the staff. It’s unfortunate and unfair they are being subjected to this and she wants to focus on the work being done,’ the source added.
It is understood that one upside to the furore is that new sponsors and donors have been coming forward.
Four new trustees have also been appointed, suggesting that Sentebale’s work will continue, regardless of the ongoing row.
While the Duke of Sussex has not commented on the allegation that he sent an ‘imperious’ text to Ms Chandauka, sources have suggested that many of the recent claims made have been attempts at ‘deflecting from the serious matters at play here’.
It is understood that the patrons and trustees have questioned whether she is acting ‘in the best interests of the charity’ and if so ‘why is she using her platform to target Prince Harry specifically’.
A source close the Netflix production team has also described the claimed version of events as ‘misleading’ and that video of Meghan and Ms Chandauka on stage has been ‘misrepresented’ and ‘weaponised’.
A source close to trustees and patrons says they ‘fully expected this publicity stunt and reached their collective decision with this in mind. They remain firm in their resignation, for the good of the charity, and look forward to the adjudication of the truth’.
