Prince Harry He faces a lawsuit from the charity he co-founded 20 years ago to honor his late mother, Princess Diana.
The Sentebale charity, which provides support to young people living with HIV in Lesotho and Botswana, filed a defamation suit in March in the High Court in London against Harry and his close friend Mark Dyer, a court record published on Friday shows.
Harry and Dyer, Sentebale’s former trustee, are being sued for libel and slander, the court record shows. No additional information was available.
In this February 26, 2026 file photo, the Duke of Sussex visits the World Food Central Kitchen (WCK), at the Jordan country office, in Amman, Jordan.
Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty Images, FILE
Sentebale confirmed the legal action in a statement “Sentebale has commenced legal proceedings in the High Court of England and Wales,” it wrote on its website Friday.
The statement continued in part: “The Charity seeks the intervention, protection and indemnification of the Court following a coordinated adverse media campaign conducted since 25 March 2025 which has caused disruption to operations and damage to the reputation of the Charity, its leadership and strategic partners.” “Proceedings have been brought against Prince Harry and Mark Dyer, who have been identified through evidence as the architects of that adverse media campaign, which had a significant viral impact and sparked an onslaught of cyberbullying directed at the charity and its leadership.”
In its statement, Sentebale added that the organization is using “external funding” to take the legal action.
The statement continued: “The charity should not continue to use its resources to manage and address the damage caused by this adverse media campaign to its operations and partnerships. This must stop.” “The Board and CEO have taken this legal action to secure these protections. The costs of doing so are being covered entirely by external funding and no philanthropic funds have been used.”
In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Harry and Dyer said in a statement to ABC News Friday that the couple “categorically rejects” her allegations.
“As Sentebale’s co-founder and founding trustee, they categorically reject these offensive and damaging allegations. “It is extraordinary that charitable funds are now being used to pursue legal action against the very people who built and supported the organization for nearly two decades, rather than directing them to the communities the charity was created to serve,” the spokesperson said.
Harry, the son of King Charles III, co-founded Sentebale with Prince Sisewu of Lesotho after spending his spare year in the country in 2004.
Harry said Sentebale, which means “forget-me-not” in Sesotho, the official language of Lesotho, was a tribute to his late mother Diana, whose favorite flower was the forget-me-not and who was an early pioneer in destigmatizing HIV/AIDS.
Harry and Sisio to resign of their roles as sponsors of Sentebale in March 2025, describing the relationship between the non-profit’s president and its trustees as “irreparable”.
“It is with heavy hearts that we have resigned from our roles as sponsors of the organization until further notice, in support and solidarity with the Board of Trustees who had to do the same,” Harry and Sisso said in a statement issued at the time. “It is devastating that the relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chairman has broken down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation. These trustees acted in the best interests of the charity when they asked the chairman to step down, with the welfare of staff in mind. In turn, the charity has sued to remain in this voluntary position, further underscoring the broken relationship. We thank all the trustees for their service over the years and are truly saddened that they have had to continue this action.”
At the same time as the founders’ resignation, Centipal Foundation’s president, Sophie Chandawka, accused its board of trustees of “mismanagement” and “bullying,” and the charity confirmed the “restructuring” of its board of directors.
In a a report It was issued in August by the UK Charity Commission – the government entity that regulates registered charities in England and Wales – She said she found no evidence of “widespread or systematic bullying or harassment” at Sentebale. The committee added that Sentebale suffered from a “lack of clarity” in its structure which had led to confusion, and criticized the charity for allowing its internal conflict to “play out in the open”.
Before resigning as pastor, Sentebale had long been a passion project for Harry, who made many private and public visits to Lesotho over the years and raised funds for the non-profit organization through Charity polo matches And other fundraising.
In 2015, Harry visited Lesotho to open the Mamohatu Children’s Centre, where he was His name Dining room “Princess of Wales Hall” named after Diana.
