# Sentebale Pauses Defamation Claim Against Prince Harry as Income Falls 20%

> Sentebale paused its defamation claim against Prince Harry after income fell 20% to £2m in 2025, with net assets down to £250,000 and £342,000 raised in donations.

- Published: 2026-10-18T18:07:38+00:00
- Section: Legal & Disputes
- Author: News Desk
- URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-18/sentebale-pauses-prince-harry-defamation-claim
- Source: [The Telegraph](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2026/10/18/sentebale-pauses-prince-harry-defamation-claim/)

## Key takeaways

- Sentebale paused its defamation claim against Prince Harry and former trustee Mark Dyer, filed in the High Court of England and Wales in March 2025.
- The charity's income fell 20% to just over £2m in 2025, while net assets dropped from £567,000 to £250,000.
- Sentebale raised £342,000 in donations, up from £293,000 the previous year, and appointed two new trustees in May 2026.

[Sentebale](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0026qr3/sentebale) has paused its defamation claim against Prince Harry, a case it filed in the High Court of England and Wales in March 2025 over an alleged coordinated adverse media campaign. [The Telegraph](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2026/10/18/sentebale-pauses-prince-harry-defamation-claim/) reported the pause on October 18, 2026. The charity's income fell 20% to just over £2m in 2025, and net assets dropped to £250,000.

## Sentebale's Defamation Claim and the Chandauka Dispute

The legal action followed a row with Sophie Chandauka, chairman of Sentebale's board, over financial problems and fundraising strategy. The dispute prompted Prince Harry and his fellow trustees, including childhood mentor Capt Mark Dyer, to resign in 2025. Chandauka accused the board of abuse of power, bullying, misogyny and harassment, and suggested Sentebale was a "vanity project" for the Duke and his friends. The Charity Commission later criticised all sides for allowing the dispute to play out publicly but found no evidence of the behaviour Chandauka alleged.

Sentebale's annual report attributes the income drop to "lower event income, reduced gifts in kind and lower donations from trusts and foundations." Income from events fell from £715,000 in 2024 to £70,000, trusts and foundations from £221,000 to £85,000, institutional sources from £1.7m to £1.2m, and gifts in kind from £321,000 to £41,000. Total expenditure was £2.3m compared with £4.9m in 2024. The charity raised £342,000 in donations, up from £293,000.

## Sentebale's Governance and Funding Records

According to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data), Sentebale appointed two new trustees, Wellington Chimwaradze and Alden Nouga-Ngog, from a pool of more than 400 applicants in May 2026 and began developing a 2027-2030 strategy in its 20th anniversary year, alongside a US$5 million five-year US philanthropic funding pipeline. The UK Charity Commission opened a governance compliance case in March-April 2025 and concluded it in August 2025 with a green light, allowing the reconstituted board to proceed with new governance policies. Sentebale filed its defamation lawsuit in the High Court of England and Wales in March 2025 against Prince Harry and former trustee Mark Dyer.

## Sentebale's Path to the Paused Claim

In August 2026, Prince Harry redirected charitable income from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund away from Sentebale to Elephants Without Borders, as detailed in the Royal Foundation's 2025 accounts, AOL.com reported. In May 2026, Sentebale appointed two new trustees and began developing its 2027-2030 strategy in its 20th anniversary year, EIN Presswire reported. In the first quarter of 2026, it reached over 35,000 children and young people across Lesotho and Botswana, building on 78,000 served in 2025.

## Sentebale's Next Steps

Sentebale's annual report states that the Charity Commission's findings provided "a clear basis for strengthening governance." Carmel Gaillard, global executive director, said: "Across our programmes, results were stronger when governments, partners, families, communities and young people helped shape how services were delivered."

## Companies in this story

- [Sentebale company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0026qr3/sentebale) · website: http://sentebale.org

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