‘Truth and reconciliation’: What hopes are there for the future of Prince Harry’s charity?
“Truth and reconciliation” – it felt like an interesting phrase after everything that’s been said in the past two weeks, but it came from a source close to the current Sentebale team, when I asked if they could really see any chance of rebuilding what has gone wrong.
It’s been explosive. First, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso, the founders, said they’d taken the “heartbreaking” decision to step away in solidarity with the trustees, who had found working with the chair Dr Sophie Chandauka “untenable”. Then Dr Chandauka, speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News last Sunday, accused Prince Harry of “harassment and bullying at scale“.
A source close to the charity’s former trustees described her allegations as “categorically false” and “completely baseless”.
What caused catastrophic breakdown?
This week I’ve been in communication with those on both sides. The acrimony and anger have been palpable, but equally clear from my conversations has been the desire on all sides to try to explain what they feel caused this catastrophic breakdown.
All parties are keen “that polo match” doesn’t become the distraction – the match where it looked like Dr Chandauka and the Sussexes had fallen out. All of those involved want that to be put to one side, as they tell me there are much more fundamental questions that need to be answered.
Taking on board everything I’ve been told, you can largely boil it down to three main areas.
How was the charity being run? I’ve been told work had been going on for some time internally to look at the governance of Sentebale. Was the current setup – how it was being run and the composition of the chair, trustees and the people in those roles – appropriate for a charity heading towards its 20th anniversary?
A genuine desire to help young people
What was the future for Sentebale? Set up because of a genuine heartfelt desire to help young people in Lesotho with HIV and AIDS, was it time for them to broaden that remit? Were there obstacles to those changes happening? But also did it really need to fundamentally change?
And financially what was going on? Again a lot has been said by both sides about money spent on consultants’ fees, and who may have been responsible for sponsors stepping away, and fundraising levels falling.
On Friday, the Charity Commission confirmed it has now opened a compliance case to assess concerns raised about the charity.
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Prince Harry v Sentebale Charity explained
In a statement, Dr Chandauka said: “We hope that, together, these actions will give the general public, our colleagues, partners, supporters, donors and the communities we serve comfort that Sentebale and its new board of trustees are acting appropriately to demonstrate and ensure good governance and a healthy culture for Sentebale to thrive.”
Prince Harry’s statement, also representing Prince Seeiso and the former trustees, said: “We share in the relief that the Charity Commission confirmed they will be conducting a robust inquiry. We fully expect it will unveil the truth that collectively forced us to resign. We remain hopeful this will allow for the charity to be put in the right hands immediately, for the sake of the communities we serve.”
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One insider, still working for the charity, did tell me they still had some hope that there may come a time when there would be some form of “truth and reconciliation process”. They added that they have always felt “if you keep your eye on the charitable objective, then I’ve often found everything falls into place”.
The young people could seriously lose out
Ultimately, at times this week, it has felt like that has been lost from this story. With all the blame and accusations flying around, there’s been little attention on the young people they support, and those they want to help in the future, that could seriously lose out.
Sentebale means so much to Harry, I had in some ways expected more of a robust response to the allegations being laid firmly at his door.
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Prince Harry claims – full interview
In recent years, unleashed from the constraints of royal life, he hasn’t been one to hold back. But you wonder how much everything else that’s been going on at home this week prevented him from more publicly responding.
My inbox has had constant updates from Meghan’s brand “As Ever”, you have to remember this was meant to be Meghan’s big week, where her new products, including flower sprinkles and raspberry spread, finally went on sale and sold out within hours.
Commercial interests at play
In some ways that context underlines one of the difficulties some have spoken to me about, with Harry living this new life.
Speak to those on both sides of this row, and one thing they will actually agree on is that Harry remains a man committed to those principles of service, duty and helping others – it’s in his DNA.
But unlike when he was a working royal, commercial interests are now at play, and that may impact other aspects of his philanthropic endeavours.
Now it’s all in the hands of the Charity Commission, and for now, both sides have fallen silent.
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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