Prince Harry And Meghan's Team Blasts Sentebale Chair's 'Bullying' Claims As 'Baseless'

Reports have emerged calling the claims made by the chairwoman of Prince Harry's Sentebale charity "baseless."

The Duke of Sussex had previously stepped back from his charity organization, which was followed by an explosive interview where the trustee chair, Dr. Sophie Chandauka, made several accusations against the former senior royal and his wife, Meghan Markle.

Prince Harry quit the NGO in solidarity with his co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, and the entire board of trustees after Dr. Chandauka refused to resign amid an internal conflict.

The feud between Sentebale's trustee chair, Dr. Chandauka, and Harry has worsened recently after the former senior royal quit the charity organization he founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho 20 years ago.

Since Harry's resignation, Chandauka has made several accusatory remarks toward the Duke, including claims that he acts as if he is "above the law," "mistreats people," and then "plays the victim card."

These comments seemingly referenced Harry's joint statement with the Lesotho prince about quitting the NGO.

She also participated in an explosive interview, unleashing several other accusations against Harry and his wife, Meghan, including blaming them for losing some donors.

Now, sources close to the prince have slammed the bullying claims as a "deflection," telling the Daily Mail that Harry and others' decisions to quit were a "direct result of the chair's mismanagement."

They also noted that Sentebale had no financial issues when Dr. Chandauka was appointed in 2023 and deemed the accusation about Harry's royal life departure leading to the loss of donors as "baseless and inaccurate."

In her explosive interview, Dr. Chandauka also claimed that Harry was the reason for the loss of the initial location where the event was meant to be held.

She discussed getting a call from the team, informing her that Harry was doing a Netflix show and wanted to bring a camera crew to the polo match to capture some footage.

"I said, you can't be doing these things without seeking consent from the property owners, the sponsors, all the guests. Nobody signed up to being on a Netflix show," she recalled, describing her response to Harry's request.

She then claimed that the venue owner increased the prices on the basis that the polo event was now considered "a commercial undertaking," and since they could not afford it, they lost the venue.

Countering the claims, the source said that Dr. Chandauka's account of the debacle surrounding last year's polo match in Miami was "highly misleading."

They also stated that the original venue had already changed its terms, which resulted in the rise in cost contrary to the Netflix angle being pushed by the trustee chair.

According to Dr. Chandauka, Meghan had initially confirmed she would not attend the Royal Salute Polo Challenge in Florida.

However, she arrived unannounced with tennis star Serena Williams, leading to last-minute "disruptions."

During the event, Meghan allegedly made suggestions about the stage arrangement, twice requesting Dr. Chandauka to move away from Prince Harry's side. This led to an awkward reshuffling of attendees, with Dr. Chandauka having to reposition herself around the trophy.

Speaking to Sky News' Trevor Phillips, Dr. Chandauka noted that the unplanned appearance created coordination issues.

"We would have been really excited had we known ahead of time [Meghan was coming], but we didn't," she explained. "And so the choreography went badly on stage because we had too many people on stage."

Previously, an ex-trustee who left alongside Harry opened up about being "shocked" by Dr. Chandauka's claims of "bullying."

"I can honestly say, in the meetings I was present in, there was never even a hint of such," Dr. Kelello Lerotholi told Sky News.

He added, "The general tone and conduct of the board has been one of respect for each other, accommodating each others' opinions and inputs, and speaking with respect to each other. So this all came as a shock to me."

At the time, he also linked the ongoing feud to Sentebale's financial issues caused by Dr. Chandauka's alleged mismanagement.

Lerotholi added, "I think things came to a head at the end of last year when it seemed that we were not doing as well as we used to be and that the future didn't look as bright as it used to."

Officially, Sentebale has only stated that Harry and the rest of the trustees' departure was due to a "conflict" but has yet to explain what happened.

"At any point of significant change in an organisation's journey, conflict can arise. We acknowledge this openly and with a spirit of reflection and forward momentum," said director Carmel Gaillard in a statement, per the Daily Mail. "We are deeply grateful for the service, time, and passion of our outgoing Trustees. We are also saddened that our Co-Founding Patrons have made the decision to step down from their duties as Patrons for the foreseeable future."

Gaillard continued, "Their belief in our mission and early leadership helped shape the foundation of our work, and for that, we remain thankful. They will always be the Founders of Sentebale."