Prince Harry is in “total shock” amid allegations of “harassment and bullying” from his ex-charity chairwoman Dr. Sophie Chandauka.
Last week, Harry and his friend Prince Seeiso of Lesotho stepped back from their co-founded charity Sentebale amid unrest between the chairwoman and the board of trustees after the latter tried to oust her amid weakening financials and doubts about her leadership. She fought back legally and rather than fight a costly battle, the trustees decided to walk away. The princes sided with the trustees.
As the fight has taken center stage in the media, the lawyer has opened up about her allegations against the organization — and specifically about the Duke of Sussex, accusing him of “bullying” and “harassment.” Yeesh!
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While Harry hasn’t opened up about the matter himself, his good friend Alex Rayner from Eton College (who also joined him on a trip to the North Pole in 2012) told DailyMail.com he’s struggling with the fallout. After speaking with Harry over the weekend, Alex dished on Monday:
“H is very happy for me to speak for him about how he feels about this awful situation. He is just beyond heartbroken and flabbergasted that the charity he founded as a teenager has been taken hostage by the chair. It feels tantamount to a hostile takeover.”
Oof. As for the allegations levied against him, his pal added:
“He is so upset and hurt and wounded about the things that are being said about him. I think it’s too early to tell whether he will just walk away now or whether he might try and get it back. The way he feels is as if he has had one of his fingers cut off.”
Jeez!
The father of two is so distraught over the disarray of the charity, which he began in 2006 to help those in southern Africa amid the HIV/AIDS crisis, because of what the org was supposed to represent, Rayner continued:
“He set up Sentebale with a schoolfriend when the death of his mum was a fresh memory. At the moment he is just in total shock about what is being said and the accusations being made.”
Interestingly, Alex said he himself believes the accusations from the chairwoman could be the result of jealousy over Meghan Markle! Seriously? Pinning this on the women??
FWIW, an awkward exchange between Sophie and Meghan has gone viral again after fans noticed the Duchess of Sussex seemed to insist Sophie not stand beside Harry in a group photo op at a polo competition — causing Sophie to duck under a trophy to get to her new spot. Per The Telegraph, Harry allegedly sent Sophie an “unpleasant” and “imperious” message after the event asking her to defend Meghan against public backlash. Sources claimed he first had his team reach out and when she refused, he sent her a direct message asking her to “explain herself.” She was reportedly taken aback by the situation and this led to deeper issues with the royal.
When speaking about her decision, Sophie told the Financial Times on Saturday:
“I said no, we’re not setting a precedent by which we become an extension of the Sussex PR machine.”
She also thought it would just make the “trolling” worse. Elsewhere, she called out “the toxicity of [Sentebale’s] lead patron’s brand,” claiming it was “the number one risk for this organization.” But Alex argued as the head of the charity, Sophie should have been thrilled Meghan showed up to the event and that it was her responsibility to shut down any negative narrative. Because she didn’t, he think she “planned” this bad press. Omg, what?? He shared his perspective:
“Any chair should have been delighted to have Meghan there. When you have both the Sussexes there it doubles the reaction, the power of it. And yet here she [Dr Chandauka] is refusing to get hold of a negative narrative which damages Meghan. It makes you wonder where it came from?”
Shots fired! FWIW, a source close to Sentebale patrons and trustees previously told People the issues pertain to governance concerns — not personal frustrations.
Eager to stop arguing over the small details of the controversy, Alex urged:
“Let’s not get blinded by ‘let’s bash Harry’ and by the idea that there were racial undertones in play… the situation is that she has failed to administrate her role. She was asked to step down and she refused and took over the charity.”
Hmm. You’d think Harry, considering his past with his family’s treatment of Meghan, would be really concerned with any “racial undertones in play,” so to have his friend just brushing that off doesn’t look great! The Charity Commission in the UK is investigating Sentebale, so hopefully, they’ll get to the bottom of this sticky situation soon.
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