It must be unpleasant to be Prince Harry at the moment. Not only is he waiting on the judgement of Mr Justice Nicklin for his class action lawsuit for privacy infringement against Associated Newspapers – which is by no means looking like a victory for him and his fellow plaintiffs – but it has recently been revealed that, following the dramatic implosion last year of the Sentebale charity that he co-founded, aggrieved members of the organisation are now suing him and his fellow trustee Mark Dyer for defamation.
Harry has form in making emotive, even offensive, comments in public, but most of them have concerned members of his family. As we all know, the general attitude of the Firm, whatever the provocation, has always been ‘never complain, never explain’. The same cannot be said of Sentebale, which fell apart when Harry and several of his fellow trustees resigned from the organisation, one blaming the ‘almost dictatorial style’ of the chairman Sophie Chandauka. Unsurprisingly, she fought back in the media, calling Harry of ‘bullying and harassment’, and initially that seemed to be the end of it. However, it has now transpired that, on 24 March, a defamation suit was issued, which adds yet more embarrassment and difficulty to the duke’s many public problems.
Sentebale has suggested that it needed to take action after ‘a coordinated adverse media campaign conducted since 25 March 2025 that has caused operational disruption and reputational harm to the charity, its leadership and its strategic partners’, and that Harry and Dyer were ‘the architects of that adverse media campaign, which has had significant viral impact and triggered an onslaught of cyberbullying directed at the charity and its leadership’.The suit went on to suggest that ‘false narratives circulated through the media about the charity and its leadership, attempts to undermine its relationships with staff, existing and prospective partners, and the forced diversion of leadership time and resources into managing a reputational crisis not of the charity’s making’. In other words, Harry’s stardust has long since waned. Now, the courts will decide who is in the right.
One of Harry’s undoubtedly busy spokespeople has responded to the claims, saying that: ‘As Sentebale’s co-founder and a founding trustee, they categorically reject these offensive and damaging claims.’ They also suggested that the suit was based on a fundamentally flawed basis, saying: ‘It is extraordinary that charitable funds are now being used to pursue legal action against the very people who built and supported the organisation for nearly two decades, rather than being directed to the communities the charity was created to serve.’(Sentebale have said that the case is being funded externally, rather than by charitable funds.)
Yet whatever happens, it is yet another blow to Harry’s reputation as a good-natured and principled international humanitarian. He has often suggested that his charitable work has been designed to fulfil a personal legacy bequeathed to him by his mother, which is undeniably appealing as an idea. However, someone will have to inform him that Princess Diana was never sued by the organisations that she supported. Chandauka clearly believes that Harry, Dyer and others are nothing more than privileged westerners playing the white saviour card – the word ‘misogynoir’ has already been used – and there will be those who have a greater degree of sympathy with this supposition than others. Certainly, it does not look good for anyone concerned in the whole affair.
Harry might be wondering where it has all gone wrong over the past six years. When he and Meghan staged their quasi-abdication from the royal family in 2020, it was supposed to be their liberation from an oppressive and, if their claims are to be believed, racist institution. The fact that he is now being sued by one of the charities that he set up, and implicitly being accused of racism himself into the bargain, suggests that he has spectacularly failed to free himself from the reputational mire. Those who feel sympathetic towards him might yet make excuses, but as Oscar Wilde said of the death of Little Nell, it would take a heart of stone not to laugh.
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