CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Prince Harry’s shocking resignation from an African charity he co-founded in reminiscence of his mom, Princess Diana, got here this week amid allegations of bullying, harassment, sexism and racism made by the group’s chairperson in opposition to unnamed board members.
Harry introduced his resignation in a joint assertion with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, who he co-founded the Sentebale youth-focused charity with in 2006. The princes have been patrons of Sentebale and weren’t on the board of trustees.
They stated they have been quitting in assist of the trustees, who left after a dispute with chairperson Sophie Chandauka.
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Sentebale works within the southern African nations of Lesotho and Botswana and was began to assist younger individuals affected by AIDS after Harry spent a part of a spot 12 months in 2004 working at an orphanage in Lesotho for kids whose dad and mom died of the illness.
Sentebale means “do not forget me” within the Sesotho language, and Harry and Seeiso set it up in reminiscence of their moms.
Princess Diana was killed in a automobile crash in Paris in 1997. Seeiso’s mom, the previous queen of Lesotho, died in 2003.
What Harry has stated
Of their assertion, Harry and Seeiso stated they have been in shock on the developments on the charity, the place the trustees had requested Chandauka to step down. She refused and filed papers at a British courtroom to forestall her from being eliminated.
The princes stated the trustees have been performing in the perfect pursuits of Sentebale and had now resigned, and the breakdown in relationships was “devastating.”
“What’s transpired is unthinkable,” the princes stated.
Allegations of sexism and racism
Chandauka, a Zimbabwean company lawyer, stated in her personal assertion that she had “dared to blow the whistle” about poor governance, abuse of energy, bullying, harassment, sexism and racism on the charity, and stated there had been a cover-up. Her allegations gave the impression to be directed on the trustees, however she did not identify anybody or give any particulars.
The trustees who resigned included Mark Dyer, a longtime mentor of Harry’s. One of many different trustees, Kelello Lerotholi, advised British tv channel Sky Information that Chandauka’s allegations have been shocking and “there was by no means even a touch” of misconduct by trustees.
Chandauka stated that she had reported a few of the board members to the U.Ok.’s Charity Fee, the place Sentebale is registered. A spokesperson at Sentebale did not reply to a request for extra info on who Chandauka’s allegations have been particularly directed at or what they concerned.
What does Sentebale do?
Sentebale has a particular place for Harry and continued a few of the work Princess Diana did by supporting AIDS charities and making an attempt to take away stigmas across the illness. Diana visited South Africa to advertise AIDS consciousness in March 1997, 5 months earlier than she died.
Sentebale was initially set as much as assist susceptible kids and younger individuals affected by AIDS with well being care companies, training and vocational coaching. Lesotho, a poor mountainous kingdom surrounded by South Africa, is among the worst-affected nations on the earth by HIV.
Harry’s charity had not too long ago advanced to additionally deal with problems with youth well being, wealth and local weather resilience in southern Africa underneath Chandauka, and the long run route of the charity was a degree of disagreement amongst its management, in response to British media experiences.
Harry visited Sentebale in Lesotho as not too long ago as October, when he spent a night round a campfire talking with younger individuals and stated the charity was constructing a pressure of younger advocates. On the identical journey, Lesotho Prime Minister Sam Matekane stated the nation would at all times be Harry’s “second residence.”
