The charity commission must investigate the bitter dispute which led to the Duke of Sussex and to several other people who resigned from the charity it has co -founded.
The guard dog said he had opened a case to examine “the concerns raised” about Sentebale, following complaints made by his head Sophie Chandauka.
Ms. Chandauka told the BBC that she had welcomed the decision by the Commission, who comes after saying that she had “denounced” on questions such as intimidation and harassment, and warned of the prince’s “toxicity” for the charity.
Prince Harry said: “What happened in last week was heartbreaking to witness, especially when such blatant lies injured those who have invested decades with this common goal.”
The Duke, speaking on behalf of the former administrators and customers, praised the announcement of the guard dog, saying that it would be a “robust investigation” that “we are waiting to reveal the truth that has collectively forced us to resign”.
“We hope this will allow the charity to immediately put in good hands, for the communities we serve,” said the prince.
The case of regulatory compliance of the Charity Commission is the first step in the assessment of complaints and allegations on what happened in Sentebale, which was founded in 2006 to help children in southern Africa affected by HIV and AIDS.
A declaration of the guard dog said that it was “in direct contact with the parties who made concerns” and collect evidence to see if those who directed the charitable and present charitable, had respected their “duties and responsibilities under the law of charity”.
An acrimonious conference room battle led to Prince Harry, his co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho and resigning administrators From their roles after Mrs. Chandauka resisted attempts to remove it as a chair.
“Since the creation of Sentebale almost 20 years ago, Prince Seeiso and I have had a clear goal – to support children and young people from southern Africa in memory of our mothers,” said Prince Harry, responding to the announcement of charity.
Ms. Chandauka previously declared that she had reported the administrators to the Charitable Commission and had denounced a complaint against questions, especially what she described as an abuse of power, intimidation, sexism and racism.
Thursday, Ms. Chandauka said in a statement that the concerns brought to the Commission included “issues of governance, administration and management”.
The Sentebale’s head said that she hoped that the public and donors would now see that there was a new board of directors “acting in an appropriate manner to demonstrate and ensure good governance and a healthy culture”.
The initiates claimed that the clashes and personality tensions around leadership had added to the challenges of Sentebale – and the watchdog is likely to hear financial problems Of some of the people formerly involved in the management of the charity.
“It is devastating that the relationship between the trustee of the charitable organization and the chairman of the board of directors was broken down, creating an untenable situation”, these administrators leave the charity said a statement.
Among the probable allegations, there are that £ 500,000 of sentebale money were spent for consultants in a strategy to obtain donations from rich people and foundations in the United States, but that sources close to the former fiduciaries say had not given adequate results.
Financial fears intervene despite the charitable organization receiving 1.2 million additional pounds of Prince Harry’s income from his successful spare play.
A Sentebale spokesperson rejected the assertion that £ 500,000 had been spent on American consultants – and defended his approach to the search for new funds for the charitable organization. Sources also claim that Ms. Chandauka had collected funding to cover the cost of consultants and that her own family had become significant donors to the charitable organization.
Sentebale told the BBC that he had hired an American company called Lebec to help establish a new fundraising strategy, and that in October 2024, a team of six consultants had established 65 key relations with potential donors, which could help Sentebale in the future.
He declared that the 12 -month -old agreement with Lebec, a strategy company led by women, had successfully linked to “individuals, family offices, companies, foundations and non -profit organizations”.
“Lebec has provided the positioning strategy, the tools and ideas to successfully enter the American market and with credibility,” said a Sentebale spokesperson.
The unique gift of Prince Harry of his spare book was “incredibly useful” but did not represent a long -term “funding pipeline”, said Sentebale.
The dispute has become more and more personal.
Ms. Chandauka argued that the controversy around Prince Harry leaving the United Kingdom had become an obstacle to potential donors.
She said that the “toxicity” of the brand of Prince Harry was the “number one risk for this organization”.
Ms. Chandauka also spoke of a dispute on a video during a fund collection polo game, where it had been said that Meghan was maneuvering her away during a award ceremony.
“Prince Harry asked me to issue a kind of declaration in support of the Duchess and I said that I would not do it,” said Chandauka.
Sources close to Prince Harry and Meghan have rejected the suggestions that there was a conflict or something negative about how the programming was organized, saying that it had been distorted.
They say that the video complete with sound shows Meghan politely helping the group preparing for the photo by asking: “Do you want to come here?”.
Ms. Chandauka says that she and her management team focus on the daily operations of the charitable organization and are looking forward to working with their supporters as “we are recaliting for an ambitious future”.
