Prince Harry sued by Africa charity he co-founded amid escalating dispute

A charity co-founded by Prince Harry in memory of his mother Princess Diana has filed a defamation case against him in London’s High Court, marking a dramatic escalation in an internal dispute that has unfolded over the past two years.

Sentebale, an organisation working with young people living with HIV in Botswana and Lesotho, initiated legal proceedings last month, according to court records reviewed on Friday 10 April. The filings indicate that Harry and his longtime associate Mark Dyer, a former trustee of the charity, are facing claims related to alleged libel or slander, though detailed documents have not yet been made public.

In a statement published on its website, Sentebale said it had approached the court seeking “intervention, protection, and restitution” following what it described as a coordinated negative media campaign that began on 25 March 2025. The charity claimed the publicity had disrupted its operations and damaged its reputation, as well as that of its leadership and partners.

A spokesperson representing Harry and Dyer rejected the allegations, stating that both men “categorically reject these offensive and damaging claims”.

The lawsuit places the Duke of Sussex in the unusual position of defending himself in the High Court. In recent years, he has more frequently appeared as a claimant in legal battles against major British tabloids, pursuing cases related to alleged phone hacking and unlawful information gathering by journalists and private investigators.

Harry co-founded Sentebale nearly two decades ago alongside Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. The organisation, whose name means 'forget me not' in the Sesotho language, was established to honour Princess Diana’s legacy, particularly her advocacy for people living with HIV and AIDS and her efforts to challenge the stigma surrounding the disease.

Tensions within the charity reportedly began surfacing in 2023 amid disagreements over a revised fundraising strategy. In March 2025, both founders stepped down from their roles as patrons in solidarity with trustees who had resigned during the dispute.

At the time, Harry and Seeiso indicated that relations between the board of trustees and the organisation’s chair, Sophie Chandauka, had broken down irretrievably. Chandauka subsequently accused Harry of attempting to pressure her into stepping down, alleging a pattern of bullying and harassment.

As the disagreement intensified, Chandauka told Sky News that production activities linked to one of Harry’s Netflix projects had disrupted a planned Sentebale fundraising event. She also suggested that an incident involving Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, had contributed to tensions within the organisation.

The Charity Commission for England and Wales later reviewed the dispute, criticising both sides for allowing the conflict to unfold publicly in a manner that risked damaging the charity’s credibility. However, the regulator said it had found no evidence of widespread bullying or misogyny within the organisation.

“Sentebale’s problems played out in the public eye, enabling a damaging dispute to harm the charity’s reputation, risk overshadowing its many achievements, and jeopardising the charity’s ability to deliver for the very beneficiaries it was created to serve,” commission chief executive David Holdsworth said in a statement issued in August 2025.

Harry’s representatives had expressed dissatisfaction with aspects of the commission’s findings, while Chandauka said the report supported her concerns.

The case is expected to draw significant attention given Harry’s longstanding association with Sentebale and the charity’s connection to Princess Diana’s humanitarian legacy. The outcome may also have wider implications for the governance and public accountability of high-profile charitable organisations.

With media inputs