A Sussex has been accused of bullying their staff 鈥 and in a swings-and-roundabouts turn of events, it鈥檚 not , for once.
Instead, it鈥檚 her husband who鈥檚 facing allegations of behaving badly by someone who has worked with him.
The person making these claims is Sophie Chandauka, a Zimbabwean lawyer who is the chair of Sentebale, a charity co-founded more than 20 years ago to help young people with HIV and AIDS.
Working with children and young people in southern Africa, that charity 鈥 whose name means 鈥渄on鈥檛 forget me鈥 in Sesotho 鈥 was inspired by the memory of his mother, Princess Diana.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Chandauka detailed a litany of bad behaviour by the prince.
His alleged misdeeds include appointing people to the board without consulting anyone else, refusing to acknowledge the negative impact his departure from the had on fundraising efforts, and 鈥 important context alert 鈥 his orchestrated attempt to 鈥渆ject鈥 her from the charity by speaking badly of her to sponsors after she鈥檇 raised concerns about the charity鈥檚 books.
Chandauka also claims Harry tried to force her to put out a statement in support of Meghan after the duchess was accused of treating Chandauka badly when they shared a podium at a polo fundraiser and the two women appeared to tussle for space near the trophy. (Catnip to the 鈥淢eghan Markle is a narcissist鈥 brigade.) She says she refused.
The whole incident, Chandauka adds, was because of an overfull stage caused by Meghan bringing an extra guest up.
That same tournament, she alleges, was already disrupted once by the Sussexes, after Harry鈥檚 request to bring a Netflix crew to film it resulted in their original venue jacking the price. She does note, however, that they found a backup venue through the prince鈥檚 connections.
She also claimed that Harry鈥檚 reputation on the world stage was so bad that he was the 鈥渘umber one risk鈥 to the charity.
It鈥檚 just the latest chapter in the messy fallout from the prince鈥檚 decision 鈥 along with a number of other trustees, including his co-founder, Lesotho鈥檚 Prince Seeiso 鈥 to step down from the board of Sentebale in protest last week.
The issue? A 鈥渂roken relationship鈥 with Chandauka, whom they asked to step down as chair, 鈥渒eeping the well-being of staff in mind,鈥 and who then refused. Instead, she sued the charity to keep the volunteer role.
Prince Harry flanked by Sister Victoria Mota and Prince Seeiso, the younger brother of King Letsie of Lesotho, interacts with pupils at the Kananelo Centre for the Deaf that works with Sentebale in 2013.聽聽
STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN AFP via Getty ImagesLast week, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso released a statement about their decision to step down, saying they鈥檙e 鈥渉eartbroken鈥 by having to step down from this charity and that 鈥渨hat鈥檚 transpired is unthinkable.鈥
This move is behind what Chandauka has called 鈥渂ullying and harassment at scale鈥 after the 鈥淪ussex PR machine鈥 was unleashed on her without any warning.
鈥淭he only reason I鈥檓 here is because at some point on Tuesday, Prince Harry authorized the release of a damaging piece of news to the outside world without informing me or my country directors, or my executive director,鈥 she told Sky News. 鈥淎nd can you imagine what that attack has done for me, on me and the 540 individuals in the Sentebale organizations and their family? That is an example of harassment and bullying at scale.鈥
Previously, Chandauka had released a written response to Harry鈥檚 announcement.
鈥淭here are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct,鈥 she wrote, then asking a series of rhetorical questions about why a chair of a charity would report her own trustees to the Charity Commission, implying she had done so, something backed up by the commission.
鈥淲ell, because beneath all the victim narrative and fiction that has been syndicated to press is the story of a woman who dared to blow the whistle about issues of poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir 鈥 and the coverup that ensued,鈥 Chandauka wrote.
Prince Harry has not commented directly on any of these allegations, which come the same week that his wife 鈥 herself dogged by an ongoing series of workplace bullying allegations, dating back to her time at the palace and recently revived in a article featuring unflattering claims about working with her on her podcast 鈥 has announced that the first products of her As Ever line will go on sale.
It鈥檚 unclear whether those jams will be a sweet enough distraction from the ongoing controversy enveloping her other half.
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