This week, the Telegraph published a lengthy interview with Chief Khoabane Theko of Sentebale. Chief Theko claimed that he was Prince Seeiso’s brother. Seeiso and Prince Harry co-founded Sentebale together in 2006, and they were dual royal patrons of the foundation before they stepped down jointly in late March. As soon as they stepped down together, everyone made it all about Harry and… Meghan. As in, Meghan was to blame for all of the problems within Sentebale, and something something, Meghan said “hi” to Sophie Chandauka and Chandauka lost her damn mind. It’s been a very bizarre story to follow. What makes matters worse is that an outlet like the Telegraph would publish such a blatant hit piece on the Sussexes, and they didn’t bother fact-checking one crucial point: Chief Theko is not Prince Seeiso’s brother. Seeiso has one brother – King Letsie III of Lesotho. No one at the Telegraph bothered fact-checking that before they published it? I guess not. But Us Weekly had an update:
Following Prince Harry’s exit from Sentebale, drama ensued — including a man falsely claiming to be the brother of cofounder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho.
After the man’s inaccurate claims made headlines, Us Weekly learned that Principal Chief Khoabane Theko is not Seeiso’s brother and has no connection to the charity.
Among the allegations Theko claimed to The Telegraph on Wednesday, April 16, was that Harry could have visited Lesotho “more often.” Harry’s 2024 visit to Lesotho marked his first in six years (including two years at the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic). He had previously traveled there four times between 2010 and 2015.
Theko, for his part, claimed he was “perturbed” to see Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, taking a trip to Africa in September 2019 without going to Lesotho. (During the trip, the couple had a busy itinerary with meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a tour of the District Six Museum, a trip to Monwabisi Beach and planting trees at the Chobe Forest Tree Reserve, among other things.)
I looked around at other coverage too, and Page Six actually wrote “Principal Chief Khoabane Theko, a man claiming to be co-founder Prince Seeiso’s brother.” Like, people, this isn’t hard. I fact-checked this in a matter of minutes using Wikipedia. Why did the Telegraph lie? I’ve also wondered why all of these people have zero smoke for Seeiso, and why Seeiso hasn’t said anything other than signing off on the joint statements with Harry. I’m not saying Seeiso is responsible for any of this, but how long can he stay silent as people are falsely claiming to be his brother, all to attack Harry and Meghan?
Oh, look at that – the Telegraph eventually edited their piece and added this correction at the very end of their article: “CORRECTION: This article previously reported that Chief Khoabane Theko is the brother of Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. This was incorrect. Chief Theko is the chief whip of Lesotho’s Senate, and a senior and influential member of the College of Chiefs and the royal family. We are happy to correct the record.”
Photos courtesy of Getty.