Prince Harry has said he is devastated and “in shock” to have to quit as patron of a charity he set up in honour of his mother.
Sentebale was established in 2006 to help children and young people in southern Africa, particularly those with HIV and Aids.
But the Duke of Sussex said he had been forced to step down amid a battle in the organisation between the chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka and the board of trustees.
He released a statement with his co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, saying they had established the charity “in honour of our mothers”.
“With heavy hearts, we have resigned from our roles as patrons of the organisation until further notice, in support of and solidarity with the board of trustees who have had to do the same,” they said.
“It is devastating that the relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation.”
Details of the row in the charity are unclear but it is reportedly over a decision to focus fundraising in Africa.
“What’s transpired is unthinkable,” the princes’ statement added.
“We are in shock that we have to do this, but we have a continued responsibility to Sentebale’s beneficiaries, so we will be sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about.”
Prince Harry and Sophie Chandauka in Florida last year. Pic: PA
In her own statement, Dr Chandauka said she would not be intimidated, adding: “For me, this is not a vanity project from which I can resign when I am called to account.”
She said she had reported the trustees to the Charity Commission and that a UK court had issued an injunction to stop them removing her.
“There are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct,” Dr Chandauka said.
She added that this was a “story of a woman who dared to blow the whistle about issues of poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir – and the cover-up that ensued”.
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Prince Harry was inspired to start the charity after spending two months in Lesotho when he was on a gap year in 2004.
He was in the small African country – which has one of the world’s highest rates of HIV and Aids – as recently as last October.
The prince talked to young people around a campfire about the “massive difference” Sentebale was making. Last April, he was also pictured with Dr Chandauka at a charity polo match in Florida.
Five former trustees also released a statement that said resigning was “devastating” but the “result of our loss in trust and confidence in the chair of the board”.
They said they were forced to quit as they could not allow Sentebale to take on the “legal and financial burden” of a lawsuit brought by the chairwoman “to block us from voting her out after our request for her resignation was rejected”.
They added that the decision to resign was “not a choice willingly made, but rather something we felt forced into in order to look after the charity”.
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