The Sentebale row: a blow for Prince Harry

Duke of Sussex made 'devastating' decision to stand down as Aids charity's patron, following 'power struggle' between its trustees and new chair

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, is welcomed to the Leribe region with his charity Sentebale
Sentebale was Harry's passion project and, without it, his in-tray will look even emptier, while his wife's is 'overflowing'
(Image credit: Brian Otieno / Getty Images for Sentebale)

Prince Harry was just 20 when he visited Lesotho during his gap year, said Tessa Dunlop in The Independent. His adolescence had been turbulent and self-destructive, but in the tiny landlocked country he found "meaning" and purpose. Two years later, he and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho founded Sentebale – a charity dedicated to orphans of the Aids epidemic – in memory of their late mothers.

The cause was clearly very close to Harry's heart, and he raised millions for it; so "no one was surprised" when Sentebale (which translates as "forget me not", his mother's favourite flower) remained in the Sussexes' portfolio after they left the UK. Last week, however, Harry revealed that he had made the "devastating" decision to stand down as its patron, in solidarity with its trustees. Mainly members of his "establishment old guard", they had resigned following a power struggle with its new chair, Sophie Chandauka, a Zimbabwean lawyer and former trustee.

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