Prince Harry’s former charity Sentebale is suing the Duke of Sussex for libel and slander, a year after he resigned as patron amid an ugly internal dispute with the charity’s chairman.
Page Six confirmed that Sentebale had filed a defamation claim against Harry at London’s High Court on March 24.
The charity also sued Mark Dyer, one of the prince’s closest friends, 41, who was Sentebale’s trustee before he and Dr Sophie Chandauka fell out.
Sentebale’s board and executive director issued a statement on Friday confirming that the charity had “commenced legal proceedings” against Mr Harry and Mr Dyer over a “systematic adverse media campaign” which began in March 2025.
They claimed the pair had “caused operational disruption and reputational damage to the charity, its leadership and strategic partners” which had “significant viral impact and triggered an onslaught of cyberbullying against the charity and its leadership”.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Dyer told Page Six that the pair “categorically reject” Mr Sentebale’s “offensive and harmful claims”.
“It is unusual that charity funds are now being used to pursue legal action against the very people who founded and supported the organization for almost 20 years, rather than being directed towards the communities the charity was founded to serve,” the spokesperson added.
Prince Harry co-founded Sentebale in 2006 in honor of his mother, Princess Diana. The company focuses on supporting young HIV and AIDS victims in Lesotho, South Africa and Botswana.
However, the Duke resigned from his role in March 2025 after clashing with Mr Chandauka, who remains the charity’s chairman.
Lesotho’s Prince Seeso, who co-founded Sentebale with Prince Harry, and the board also left with the duke when he resigned last year.
“It is with heavy hearts, and in support and solidarity with the Board, that we have decided to step down from our roles as patrons of this organization until further notice,” Harry and Seeso said in a joint statement at the time.
“It is shocking that the relationship between a charity’s trustees and its chair has broken down beyond repair,” they added.
Mr Chandauka then reported both Prince Harry and the trustees to the Regulated Charities Commission for England and Wales over shocking allegations of bullying and harassment.
She also claimed that their conflict began after Harry’s team asked her to protect his wife Meghan Markle from negative media coverage related to an awkward photo shoot at a Sentebale event in April 2024.
“I said no. We are not going to set a precedent that is an extension of the Sussex PR machine,” Chandauka said in an interview with the Financial Times in March 2025.
However, in an August 2025 statement, the commission found no evidence of “widespread or systematic bullying, harassment, misogyny or misogyny” at the Sentebale charity.
Still, the commission criticized Mr Harry and Mr Chandauka for taking the dispute “publicly” and said: “Failure to resolve the dispute internally risks seriously impacting on the charity’s reputation and undermining public confidence in charities more generally.”
Meanwhile, sources close to the Duke of Sussex insisted that neither Prince Harry nor Seeso could be considered returning to Sentebale as long as Chandauka remains chairman of the charity.
