Prince Harry was cleared of bullying and harassment claims at the African AIDS charity he co-founded, Sentebale, by Britain’s charities commission regulator on Wednesday, months after he resigned from the organization.
The prince was pulled to the center of the public dispute when the organization’s chairwoman, Sophie Chandauka, made several accusations against Harry, as well as the charity’s co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, and the board of trustees.
Chandauka accused the group of poor leadership and noted issues of mismanagement, bullying, misogyny and harassment, as previously reported by the Deseret News.
The claims from Chandauka came after Prince Harry, Prince Seeiso and five of the seven members of the organization’s board of trustees stepped down in solidarity in March. The group pointed to a loss of trust in Chandauka as a leader as their reason for leaving the charity.
In a report published Wednesday, the regulator said there was no evidence of “widespread or systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir at the charity.” (The term misogynoir refers to sexism directed at Black women.)
Still, the report noted, “The Commission has acknowledged the strong perception of ill treatment felt by a number of parties to the dispute and the impact this may have had on them personally.”
Despite clearing Harry, Seeiso and the former trustees of bullying and harassment claims, the report criticized “all parties” over how the dispute played out in public — noting public statements and television interviews.
“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,” David Holdsworth, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said in a statement.
He continued, “Moving forward I urge all parties not to lose sight of those who rely on the charity’s services.”
Harry pushed back on Britain’s charity regulator’s criticisms in a statement released on Wednesday, claiming the report fell “troublingly short” in its findings.
“Unsurprisingly, the commission makes no findings of wrongdoing in relation to Sentebale’s co-founder and former patron, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex,” the statement, from Harry’s spokesperson, said, per The Guardian.
The statement continued,“Despite all that, their report falls troublingly short in many regards, primarily the fact that the consequences of the current chair’s actions will not be borne by her — but by the children who rely on Sentebale’s support.”
“Sentebale has been a deeply personal and transformative mission for Prince Harry, established to serve some of the most vulnerable children in Lesotho and Botswana.”
Harry co-founded Sentebale in 2006, with an aim to help people in the region of southern Africa, including Lesotho and Botswana, living with HIV and AIDS.
The commission provided Chandauka and her newly appointed trustees with a regulatory action plan with steps the trustees must take in order to improve the charity’s complaints procedure and set up an improved process for delegating authority. The action plan also provides guidance on securing funding.
In light of the commission’s reports, Chandauka said the organization feels “not just grateful to have survived, but stronger: more focused, better governed, boldly ambitious and with our dignity intact,” per The Guardian.
Chandauka continued, “Despite the recent turbulence, we will always be inspired by the vision of our founders, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso, who established Sentebale in memory of their precious mothers, Princess Diana and Queen ‘Mamohato.”