African Charity Co-Founded By Prince Harry In Honor Of Late Queen Sues Him For Defamation

An African charity co-founded by Prince Harry in honor of his late mother, Princess Diana, has filed a defamation lawsuit against the British royal at London’s High Court, according to court records made public on April 9, 2026 . Sentebale, which supports young people living with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana, lodged the libel claim last month against Harry and Mark Dyer, a close friend of the prince and former charity trustee.

Online court filings show that Harry and Dyer are being sued for either libel or slander, though no specific documents detailing the alleged defamatory statements have been released . The claim was originally filed on March 24, 2026, according to court records . Spokespeople for both Prince Harry and Sentebale have not yet responded to requests for comment.

The lawsuit represents the latest chapter in a bitter public feud that erupted at the charity, which Harry co-founded nearly 20 years ago in 2006, nine years after Princess Diana’s death in a Paris car crash . The name Sentebale means “forget-me-not” in the Sesotho language of Lesotho . Harry stepped down as a patron of the charity in March 2025 alongside Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, his co-founder, following a dispute with the charity’s board chairwoman, Dr. Sophie Chandauka.

The dispute surfaced in 2023 over a new fundraising strategy and quickly escalated into a highly public conflict . Harry and the trustees described the relationship with Chandauka as beyond repair. In a joint statement announcing their resignation, the princes said, “It is devastating that the relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation. In turn, she sued the charity to remain in this voluntary position, further underscoring the broken relationship”.

Chandauka, who reported Harry and the trustees to Britain’s Charity Commission for alleged bullying and harassment, claimed she attempted to blow the whistle on “abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny and misogynoir” at the charity . Speaking to Sky News, she described Harry’s resignation as “an example of harassment and bullying at scale” and alleged that he had interfered with her whistleblower complaint . She also claimed that Harry’s Netflix agreement disrupted a planned fundraising event and that an incident involving his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, became a source of friction.

The Charity Commission conducted an investigation and published a report in August 2025 that criticized all sides for allowing the internal conflict to spill into public view. “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 jeopardizing the charity’s ability to deliver for the very beneficiaries it was created to serve,” said Commission CEO David Holdsworth in a statement . The regulator found no evidence of systemic bullying, harassment, misogyny, or misogynoir at the charity, but acknowledged “the strong perception of ill treatment” felt by some involved . The commission also criticized weak governance at the organization.

A source close to Harry said in August 2025 that the prince had been left emotionally devastated by the events, having worked with the charity for 19 years . Harry’s spokesman had previously criticized the commission’s report, while Chandauka welcomed its findings . Sources close to Harry later criticized Chandauka’s leadership, saying the “consequences of her actions will not be borne by her, but by the children who rely on Sentebale’s support”.

The charity has faced a funding crisis since Harry’s departure a year ago . As the defamation case now proceeds at the High Court, the dispute continues to cast a shadow over an organization created to honor Princess Diana’s legacy of humanitarian work.