Prince Harry sued for ‘reputational harm’ by African charity he co-founded

Prince Harry attends a Sentebale event in Johannesburg, South Africa, on October 3, 2024. Photo by Brian Otieno/Getty Images for Sentebale

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An African AIDS charity co-founded by Britain’s Prince Harry said on Friday it had launched legal proceedings against him for “reputational harm,” after a bitter dispute about its management.

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Harry helped found the Sentebale charity in 2006 in honour of his late mother, Princess Diana. But he quit the institution last year amid a bitter governance dispute with its chairperson.

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“Sentebale has commenced legal proceedings in the High Court of England and Wales,” the charity said in a statement sent to AFP.

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“The charity seeks the court’s intervention, protection and restitution following 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,” it said.

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Online court filings show the prince is a defendant alongside Mark Dyer, who was also previously a trustee of Sentebale, according to U.K. media reports.

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“The proceedings have been brought against Prince Harry and Mark Dyer, identified through evidence as the architects of that adverse media campaign, which has had significant viral impact and triggered an onslaught of cyber-bullying directed at the charity and its leadership,” Sentebale added.

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In August 2025, the U.K.’s Charity Commission pointed to “mismanagement” at the charity.

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But it found no evidence of “bullying” — a charge that had been levelled at Harry by the organization’s chairperson, Sophie Chandauka, in March 2025.

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The charity was launched to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and later Botswana.

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Harry — the youngest son of Britain’s King Charles III — and co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho announced last year they were resigning from the charity, after the trustees quit.

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The trustees walked out when Chandauka refused their demand to step down.

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After an inquiry, the Charity Commission said it had “found no evidence of widespread or systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir (prejudice against black women) at the charity.”

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But it “criticized all parties to the dispute for allowing it to play out publicly,” saying the “damaging internal dispute” had “severely impacted the charity’s reputation.”

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It found there was “a lack of clarity in delegations” which led to “mismanagement in the administration of the charity” and issued the organisation with a plan to “address governance weaknesses.”

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Chandauka, who was appointed to the voluntary post in 2023, said she “appreciated” the Charity Commission’s conclusions.

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She added that the findings “confirm the governance concerns I raised privately in February 2025.”