A charity co-founded by Prince Harry in Africa in honour of his late mother, Princess Diana, has filed a defamation lawsuit against him following his departure as a patron last year.
Sentebale, which supports young people living with HIV in Botswana and Lesotho, lodged the case last month at London’s High Court, according to court records seen on Friday (Apr 10). Online filings indicate that Prince Harry and his associate Mark Dyer, a former trustee of the organisation, are being sued for libel or slander, although detailed court documents have not been made public.
In a statement published on its website, Sentebale said it was seeking legal intervention to address what it described as reputational harm and operational disruption caused by a “coordinated adverse media campaign” since March 25, 2025.
The charity said the situation had negatively affected its leadership and strategic partnerships, prompting it to seek protection and restitution through the courts.
The legal action places the Duke of Sussex in a rare position, as he has more commonly been the claimant in recent years, particularly in privacy-related cases against UK tabloids over alleged phone hacking and unlawful information gathering.
Sentebale was co-founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho nearly two decades ago, with the organisation named after a word meaning “forget me not” in the local language. It was established to support HIV and AIDS programmes and reduce stigma in southern Africa.
Tensions within the charity reportedly surfaced in 2023 following disagreements over fundraising strategy, leading to Harry and Prince Seeiso stepping down as patrons in March 2025 in solidarity with departing trustees.
At the time, both founders said relations between the board and its chair, Sophie Chandauka, had become untenable. Chandauka later accused Prince Harry of leading a campaign of bullying and harassment aimed at forcing her out.
Amid the dispute, Chandauka also claimed that production activities linked to one of Harry’s Netflix projects disrupted a scheduled fundraising event, while an incident involving Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, further strained relations.
The Charity Commission for England and Wales investigated the matter and criticised all parties for allowing internal disagreements to become public, warning that it had damaged Sentebale’s reputation. However, it found no evidence of widespread bullying or misconduct.
In a statement, Charity Commission chief executive David Holdsworth said the public nature of the dispute had risked overshadowing the charity’s work and jeopardising its ability to serve beneficiaries.
Harry’s representatives previously criticised the findings, while Chandauka welcomed the report.
As of Friday, the Duke of Sussex’s office had not issued a public response to the latest legal action.
