Prince Harry's former charity hit with new blow as London staff face redundancy
Reach Daily Express August 16, 2025 04:39 PM

The charity founded by Prince Harry in 2006 has reportedly made some of its London staff made redundant. Sentebale, which was set up by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in memory of the late Princess Diana, has experienced a turbulent few months.

The charity, which aims to support children and young people affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, has reportedly had a loss of donations after a very public feud between the Duke of Sussex and Sophie Chandauka, the charity's chairwoman. Just weeks ago, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho both resigned as patrons of the charity as a result of ongoing issues they said made the situation "untenable".

As reported by The Times, it is believed problems first began when the charity's board challenged Chandauka over a £400,000 bill for consultants. The board said that the investment in consultants brought little return, with many trustees asking her to step down.

In response, Chandauka complained to the Charity Commission and alleged that bullying, misogyny and racism was ongoing towards her.

As reported by The Times, a number of trustees then resigned, blaming Chandauka's "almost dictatorial" style. It is believed Prince Harry agreed with the decision of people resigning.

While the issue may have been a personal blow for the prince, it seems to have also damaged the charity, which has lost donations and funding.

It is believed this has contributed to the charity's decision to make four of its five London staff redundant, including its global head of finance and compliance.

There are believed to also be staff being made redundant in Africa, with the reason reportedly a result of the charity not having enough donor funding, as revealed by The Times. It has also been reported that the charity has used a lot of the £1.4 million built up over two decades.

Just weeks ago, the Charity Commission criticised both Chandauka and Prince Harry for the public spat which it said had "severely impacted the charity's reputation and risked undermining public trust in charities more generally". The report found no evidence there was a culture of bullying, harassment or misogyny, although it did not adjudicate on individual employment disputes.

This finding was likely to be a relief for the prince, as the chairwoman had previously accused him of "bullying" and "harassment" - claims he denied.

A spokesperson for Sentebale told the Daily Mail that the redundancy decisions were part of a "plannned restructuring" and uncertainty, not helped by the public spat this year. They said: "First discussed in 2024, the Sentebale Board took a deliberate and responsible step to right-size its workforce in all three locations due to increasing uncertainty relating to international donor funding such as USAID and uncertainty relating to events such as polo (fundraising event).

"The global restructuring was intended to improve efficiencies, transition senior executive roles to Southern Africa and to respond to changing service delivery demands. False is the notion that any restructuring was because of a 'funding crisis', but was a planned restructuring."

Express.co.uk have approached Sentebale for comment.

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