Prince Harry has been sued for defamation by Sentebale, the charity he co-founded nearly two decades ago to support children and young people living with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana, in a dramatic escalation of a leadership dispute that has already damaged the organisation’s public standing. Court records reviewed on Friday show that Sentebale filed the claim in London’s High Court in March against Harry and his close friend Mark Dyer, a former trustee. Reuters reported that the claim is for libel, while online court listings cited by the Associated Press described it as either libel or slander.
The charity said in a statement that it was seeking the court’s “intervention, protection, and restitution” over what it called a coordinated adverse media campaign dating from March 25, 2025, which it said had caused operational disruption and reputational harm to the organisation, its leadership and its strategic partners. Sentebale further alleged that Harry and Dyer were identified through evidence as key architects of that campaign and said the fallout had triggered cyberbullying directed at the charity and its leadership. A spokesperson for Harry and Dyer rejected the allegations, calling them “offensive and damaging” and questioning why charitable funds were being used for legal action.
The lawsuit follows a long-running internal conflict that surfaced publicly in 2023 over a proposed fundraising strategy in the United States. Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, Sentebale’s co-founders, stepped down as patrons in March 2025 alongside trustees who resigned during the dispute. At the time, they said the relationship between the board and its chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, had broken down beyond repair. Chandauka later accused Harry of trying to force her out through bullying and harassment, allegations that intensified the public acrimony around the charity.
Britain’s Charity Commission investigated the dispute and, in August 2025, concluded that there was no evidence of widespread or systemic bullying, harassment, misogyny or misogynoir at Sentebale. But the regulator sharply criticised all sides for allowing the conflict to spill into public view, saying weak governance, poor internal processes and unclear delegations of authority had amounted to mismanagement in the administration of the charity. It issued Sentebale with a Regulatory Action Plan to improve internal complaints procedures, governance and funding oversight.
The case leaves Harry in an unusual legal position. In recent years he has more often appeared in British courts as a claimant pursuing privacy and phone-hacking claims against newspaper publishers. Now, by contrast, he faces litigation from a charity created in memory of his mother, Princess Diana. For Sentebale, the legal battle threatens to prolong a crisis that regulators have already warned could overshadow its mission and undermine support for the vulnerable young people it was established to serve.
