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By Gabe Whisnant
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A charity co‑founded by Prince Harry to honor his late mother, Princess Diana, has filed a defamation lawsuit against him following a bitter dispute that led to his resignation from the organization last year.
Sentebale, which supports young people living with HIV in Lesotho and Botswana, lodged the claim last month at London’s High Court, according to court records viewed Friday. Online listings indicate that Harry and his longtime friend Mark Dyer, a former trustee of the charity, are being sued for libel or slander, though court filings do not include further details.
In a statement posted to its website on Friday, Sentebale said it was seeking legal relief after what it described as sustained reputational harm.
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“The charity seeks the court’s intervention, protection, and restitution following a coordinated adverse media campaign conducted since 25 March 2025,” the statement said, adding that the campaign had caused “operational disruption and reputational harm to the charity, its leadership, and its strategic partners.”
Unusual Legal Position for the Duke of Sussex
The lawsuit places the Duke of Sussex in an uncommon role as a defendant at the High Court. In recent years, Harry has more frequently appeared as a claimant, pursuing multiple invasion‑of‑privacy cases against British tabloids over allegations of phone hacking and unlawful information gathering.
Neither Harry’s representatives nor legal counsel for Sentebale immediately responded Friday to requests for comment.
Sentebale’s Origins and Growing Internal Dispute
Harry co‑founded Sentebale in 2006 alongside Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, roughly nine years after Princess Diana was killed in a Paris car crash. The charity’s name means “forget‑me‑not” in the Sesotho language and reflects Diana’s prominent advocacy for HIV and AIDS awareness and treatment.
Internal tensions within the organization became public in 2023 amid disagreements over a new fundraising strategy. Both founders stepped down as patrons in March 2025, saying they were acting in support of trustees who had resigned.
At the time, Harry and Prince Seeiso said relations between the board and its chair, Sophie Chandauka, had deteriorated beyond repair.
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Allegations and Regulator Review
Chandauka later accused Harry of orchestrating a campaign of bullying and harassment intended to force her resignation. As the dispute escalated, she told Sky News that production activities related to one of Harry’s Netflix projects interfered with a Sentebale fundraiser and that an incident involving his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, added to internal friction.
Britain’s Charity Commission for England and Wales later investigated the dispute. While it found no evidence of widespread bullying or misogyny, the regulator criticized both sides for allowing the conflict to play out publicly.
“Sentebale’s problems played out in the public eye, enabling a damaging dispute to harm the charity’s reputation,” commission Chief Executive David Holdsworth said in an August 2025 statement.
Fallout Continues
Harry’s spokesperson previously criticized the commission’s findings, while Chandauka welcomed the report. Messages sent Friday seeking comment from the Duke of Sussex’s office were not immediately returned to the Associated Pres.
Updates: 4/10/26, 2:30 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
Reporting by the Associated Press contributed to this article.
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