Ever since Sophie Chandauka became the CEO of Sentebale, the charity began losing long-standing members from the Board of Trustees and from the executive leadership of the charity. That was happening even last year. Things came to a head in March of this year, when the majority of the Board of Trustees stepped down in protest of Chandauka. Sentebale’s royal patrons, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso, also stepped down in solidarity with the trustees. What followed was bonkers: Chandauka made a series of wild accusations which did not stand up to any kind of scrutiny, and she began publicly attacking Prince Harry’s wife as well. During that same period of time, Chandauka appointed new trustees, including Iain Rawlinson, a long time “ally” of Prince William. Since Harry and Seeiso’s resignations from Sentebale – not to mention the Charity Commission’s investigation into Chandauka and her wild claims – it looks like Chandauka’s new trustees are not sticking around to see how all of this shakes out. Sentebale has lost yet another trustee:
He hankers after being the prince he once was, in the acute judgment of Tina Brown – author of a majestic biography about Princess Diana – who points out that ‘the good you can do as a royal is so much more potent’ than anything anyone can achieve in exile in California, even if blessed with an £11 million mansion with 13-and-a-half bathrooms. Perhaps nowhere is this more startingly evident than at Sentebale, the charity which Prince Harry, inspired by the memory of his mother, co-founded in 2006 with the goal of helping orphaned African children.
Engulfed by an appalling storm of accusation since its board of trustees resigned last month – swiftly followed by the Duke of Sussex and his co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, who stepped down as its patrons – Sentebale now appears to be at the mercy of events beyond its control.
Only a fortnight ago, I disclosed that one of its new trustees, Dr Margaret Ikpoh, had resigned just three weeks after being appointed. They were certainly three dramatic weeks, during which Harry accused Sentebale’s chief executive, Dr Sophie Chandauka, of telling ‘blatant lies’. She hit back by accusing Harry of playing ‘the victim card’, declaring the Sussexes’ brand to be ‘toxic’ and reporting her concerns to the Charity Commission, which announced that it was initiating an investigation.
Now, I can disclose, another trustee has resigned. Nerissa Naidu, who, like Dr Ikpoh, was appointed on March 25, has stepped down, leaving just three trustees in place: Iain Rawlinson, Dr Bhakti Hansoti and Dr Chandauka herself. This leaves Sentebale in a precarious position as charities are advised to have a minimum of three trustees.
Naidu, a South African entrepreneur, declines to comment, but Sentebale acknowledges that it has been ‘a particularly difficult time to have joined the organisation’. It adds that Naidu has ‘chosen to step down out of respect for her other professional commitments’ and says that it has deeply appreciated ‘her tremendous support and insights in recent weeks and her interest in Sentebale over a long period of time’.
[From The Daily Mail’s Eden Confidential]
As much as I want to believe that these trustees are leaving because they get a good look at Chandauka, I think it’s more like “why bother with any of this when the charity is being investigated and there’s all this drama?” Pretty soon it’s just going to be Chanadauka and Rawlinson screaming “BUT PRINCE HARRY!” This was such an obvious and stupid move by Prince William, all because he was jealous of what Harry created in their mother’s memory. Also: what does the bathroom count in Montecito have to do with Sentebale again??
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Sky News screengrabs.
