Britain’s charity watchdog has criticised Prince Harry and others for letting a “damaging” boardroom battle play out in the public eye and harm the reputation of a good cause he co-founded.

The Charity Commission investigated Sentebale after founders Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho stepped down as its patrons in support of a group of trustees.

The trustees had resigned following a dispute with board chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandaka. 

The watchdog criticised all parties in the fallout for allowing it to play out publicly. It said all trustees had contributed to a “missed opportunity” to resolve the issues that led to the serious disagreement, which risked undermining public trust in charities generally. 

The Duke of York and Seeiso co-founded Sentebale in 2006 in honour of Harry’s late mother Princess Diana to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana.

Harry’s spokesperson attacked the Charity Commission’s findings, saying the report “… falls troublingly short in many regards, primarily the fact that the consequences of the current chair’s actions will not be borne by her ­– but by the children who rely on Sentebale’s support”. 

Chandaka said the “unexpected adverse media campaign” launched by those who quit the charity had “caused incalculable damage and offers a glimpse of the unacceptable behaviours displayed in private”. 

“We are emerging not just grateful to have survived, but stronger: more focused, better governed, boldly ambitious and with our dignity intact,” she said.

The fallout came after Sentebale’s trustees sought in 2023 to introduce a new fundraising strategy, with the dispute arising between Chandaka and some of the trustees and Harry, the Charity Commission said.

A war of words followed the resignations, with Harry and Seeiso issuing a joint statement in March, describing their decision as “devastating” and adding they could see “no other path forward as the result of our loss in trust and confidence in the chair of the board”. 

Chandaka hit back in a television interview, accusing the duke of being “involved” in a “cover-up” of an investigation about bullying, harassment and misogyny at the organisation. She said the “toxicity” of Harry’s brand had affected the charity, which had lost donors since he moved to the US. 

The regulator, which cannot investigate individual allegations of bullying, found no evidence of systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir, at the Sentebale but acknowledged “the strong perception of ill treatment” felt by some involved. 

“Passion for a cause is the bedrock of volunteering and charity, delivering positive impact for millions of people here at home and abroad every day,” Charity Commission chief executive David Holdsworth said.

“However, in the rare cases when things go wrong, it is often because that very passion has become a weakness rather than a strength. 

“Sentebale’s problems played out in the public eye, enabling a damaging dispute to harm the charity’s reputation, risk overshadowing its many achievements, and jeopardising the charity’s ability to deliver for the very beneficiaries it was created to serve.” 

-AAP