Apr 11, 2026, 06:38Apr 11, 2026, 06:43
Prince Harry (45) is facing a lawsuit from an aid organization he co-founded. Court documents show that the charity Sentebale filed a defamation lawsuit against Harry and a former trustee of the organization, Mark Dyer, in March, according to several British media outlets.
Prince Harry is facing a lawsuit.Image: keystone
There has been a “coordinated, negative media campaign” since March 2025 that has damaged the organization’s reputation, according to a statement from Sentebale’s board and management confirming the lawsuit. “The case was brought against Prince Harry and Mark Dyer, who were identified by evidence as the masterminds of this negative media campaign,” according to the allegations. This caused a “flood of cyberbullying” against the organization and its management.
“Insulting and damaging”
Prince Harry and Dyer would “categorically” reject these offensive and damaging claims, the New York Times and Variety quoted from a statement from their spokesperson team. It is “extraordinary” that charity funds are now being used for legal action against the very people who built the organization and supported it for a long time, instead of giving the money to the groups for which the charity was founded, it said.
Together with co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, Harry left the organization as patron in March 2025 after a dispute over leadership. Sentebale primarily supports AIDS orphans in Lesotho and Botswana; the two princes founded the organization in 2006 in memory of their deceased mothers.
Mutual accusations
The background to the dispute is mutual accusations – with the organization’s chairwoman, Sophie Chandauka, on the one hand, and Prince Harry on the other. Chandauka, who remains in office, accused the royal of bullying. She also said Harry was the cause of an exodus of donors because of his departure from the British royal family’s inner circle. The prince rejected the allegations.
Months later, during an investigation, the British supervisory authority found no evidence of “systematic bullying” or harassment within the organization and no signs of Harry exceeding his authority. However, the authority criticized all parties for making the dispute public.
Harry and his wife Meghan (44) broke away from their royal duties in 2020 and the two now live in the USA with their two children Archie (6) and Lilibet (4). The relationship with the royal family is considered to be broken. (dab/sda/dpa)