Prince Harry has made the "hardest decisions he's had to make in the last few years" after stepping down from his co-founded charity Sentebale, it has been claimed.
The Duke of Sussex stepped down in solidarity with the entire charity's board of trustees following an "irreparable breakdown in relations" with its chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka.
The organisation, which Harry founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, has been thrown into disarray after Dr Chandauka claimed there was a "weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, and misogynoir [discrimination against black women]" within the organisation.
Speaking to GB News, royal reporter Kinsey Schofield claimed the Duke's decision to step away from the organisation is a "demonstration of loyalty" to those that he "trusts" at the charity.
Prince Harry has made one of his 'most difficult decisions in years' after resigning from his charity, Sentable
Getty
Schofield explained: "I have to defend him here and say, I think that this is actually a demonstration of loyalty.
"He is standing by the people that he's comfortable with, that he believes in and that he trusts, and that he helped build this charity with from the get go. This is, of course, so close to his heart."
Noting the timing of the fallout within Sentable, Schofield told GB News that the resignation comes amid the controversy surrounding his wife Meghan Markle and her lifestyle brand, As Ever.
She added: "I imagine that the timing is not great either, because there's so much happening for his wife right now professionally, and this does distract from that.
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Harry stepped down in solidarity with the entire board of trustees following an irreparable breakdown in relations with Dr ChandaukaGetty"But nearly 20 years ago, they founded this in honour of not only Prince Harry's mother, but Prince Seeiso's mother. And this has got to be one of the hardest decisions he's probably ever made in the last few years."
A spokesperson for Sentebale said the row was sparked after the charity carried out a "restructuring" of its board.
In a joint statement, the friends and former board members described an "unthinkable" breakdown in "the relationship between the charity's trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation".
Siding with the departing trustees, the princes’ statement said: "These trustees acted in the best interest of the charity in asking the chair to step down, while keeping the wellbeing of staff in mind.
Schofield told GB News that the move has sparked 'chaos' for the charity
GB News
"In turn, she sued the charity to remain in this voluntary position, further underscoring the broken relationship. We thank all the trustees for their service over the years and are truly heartbroken they’ve had to follow through with this act.
"What’s transpired is unthinkable. We are in shock that we have to do this, but we have a continued responsibility to Sentebale’s beneficiaries, so we will be sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about.
"Although we may no longer be patrons, we will always be its founders, and we will never forget what this charity is capable of achieving when it is in the right care."
The Charity Commission has also confirmed that an investigation was underway into concerns about the governance of the organisation, with Chandauka refusing to step down.
