Two weekends ago, Sophie Chandauka went on a Sky News show and she threw out some really wild, nonsensical allegations and accusations. She claimed she was “bullied” by Prince Harry… when he resigned from the charity he co-founded. She claimed she had no idea that the Duchess of Sussex would attend the Sentebale fundraiser/polo match one year ago. She claimed that the Sussexes’ exit from the UK had done irreparable damage to Sentebale. She was also unsettled by Serena Williams’ presence at the polo match, and claimed that Meghan and Serena’s presence was disruptive. Well, Chandauka is at it again. “Sources” are telling all to the Mail about what went down at this polo fundraiser, and wouldn’t you know, those “sources” are dragging Meghan because… she dared to watch her husband play polo. Chandauka’s lies make zero sense, but the Mail is desperate to tell her story.
The Sentebale catastrophe started with Meghan: ‘The problem, though, started with Meghan,’ one informed source told The Mail on Sunday. ‘Meghan doesn’t like Sophie.’
An animosity between the two women: Although Harry was playing that day, Meghan had pointedly said she would not attend the match at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Florida, to raise funds for Sentebale. But the Duchess arrived unexpectedly with a celebrity pal, tennis star Serena Williams, in tow. Dr Chandauka greeted Meghan warmly – or tried to – but, say sources, received only a perfunctory ‘Hi’ in return. The Duchess then turned sharply away and sauntered to a marquee with Serena ‘to drink champagne’. ‘She [Dr Chandauka] wanted to take her around, to introduce her to other people, but Meghan didn’t want to mingle or engage with those supporting the event,’ said a source. ‘She went off to the tent. Sophie found it rude. Staff working that day were asked to get champagne for Meghan, they were scrambling around – Sentebale and Archewell [Harry and Meghan’s charitable organisation] staff were both having to do that. Sentebale were not happy about this at all.’
The moment on stage: Footage showed that after handing Harry a trophy, Dr Chandauka, who was standing on his right, was asked twice by Meghan to move to her left side away from him. He had his arm around his wife while others shuffled to find a place. Dr Chandauka then had to duck under the trophy to adopt the position indicated by Meghan. Sources close to Harry and Meghan hit back yesterday, saying this moment was misrepresented. They argued that the Duchess is clearly heard ‘politely offering assistance’ in the footage, saying to Dr Chandauka: ‘Do you want to come over here?’ The sources said the incident was ‘weaponised as a negative attack’ and denied there was an issue on stage.
The Netflix crew: Dr Chandauka would later suggest that a Netflix TV crew caused disruption, but sources say she seemed more than happy at the time. In an interview on the day she described Netflix’s involvement as a great opportunity for Sentebale to gain exposure through a global platform.
Chandauka obsessed with Meghan? Another insider told this newspaper that the couple believed Dr Chandauka was ‘obsessed’ with Meghan ‘in a fan girl kind of way’. This was denied by Sentebale.
Chandauka was definitely in her feelings about Meghan: By all accounts Harry and the charity boss had previously got on well, but the polo match marked what one source called a ‘turning point’. Harry tried to make Dr Chandauka defend Meghan publicly afterwards but the charity boss refused, saying last week that she did not want to become an extension of the Sussexes’ PR machine. A source said: ‘Above all else, it was the way she says Meghan snubbed her on arrival that was the reason she wouldn’t issue some kind of supporting statement. Meghan then sent something to Sophie and Sophie responded and after that she [Sophie] was persona non grata. Harry sided with Meghan – he always does as he is dazzled by her. In his eyes she can do no wrong, even when it comes to behaving like that at a charity event. He was raging all day about it. Any time Meghan is spoken of badly, he gets the hump.’
Sentebale versus Archewell: While the main protagonists were squabbling in the aftermath of the polo event, so too were their aides. ‘Sentebale then complained about Team Archewell – they thought they were rude,’ a source told The Mail on Sunday. ‘There were comments on the day about how Archewell’s glossy PR machine made it all look good, but in reality, on the ground, they were not very nice. That caused a lot of unrest and bad blood.’
Prince Seeiso is staying quiet: With the claims and counter-claims still flying, one man who has maintained a dignified silence is Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. He has called Harry his brother but has so far refused to criticise Dr Chandauka publicly, perhaps, as some in his country suggest, because he feels some sympathy towards her. When The Mail on Sunday caught up with him in Maseru last week he said only: ‘It’s a very sad and very unfortunate situation for everyone concerned.’
Yeah, I think Seeiso is staying quiet until he doesn’t – he’s not interested in speaking to the Mail, especially in what anyone could clearly see is a hit piece organized by Chandauka. But I imagine Seeiso will eventually speak. In fact, he and Harry have cosigned all of their public statements, first their resignation from Sentebale and then their message after the Charity Commission investigation was announced. Seeiso and Harry have said the exact same amount publicly about Chandauka and her mess.
As for Chandauka’s latest version of events…these are all lies. Serena Williams didn’t arrive alongside Meghan, Serena came to the event later. Harry and Meghan arrived together, with Harry in a suit, and then he changed to play polo, and Meghan was circulating with various people and Serena arrived at one point later on. After the match, there are photos of Serena greeting and hugging Harry (because it was the first time they saw each other that day). Delfina Blaquier was also there, and Meghan spent a chunk of the afternoon with Delfina (and Chandauka seemingly didn’t think Delfina was important enough to smear). What this Mail piece is really telling me is that Chandauka lies like a rug.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
