Daily Express columnist Carole Malone has slammed Prince Harry on The Jeremy Vine Show in a frosty clash, describing him as a “high-handed young man” and criticising him for “trashing” the Royal Family. This comes after it was reported that the charity regulator found no evidence of widespread bullying, harassment, or misogyny at the Sentebale charity, founded by The Duke of Sussex. The row had seen Prince Harry labelled as a “toxic brand” by the charity’s chair, Sophie Chandauka. Prince Harry then resigned as patron in March, and Sophie then said she had been subjected to individuals who “play the victim card”.
Speaking on the show, Carole questioned: “I don’t know why he walked away from that charity. The charity was set up in honour of his mum (Princess Diana]. And I don’t know why he would walk away if there was a problem.” She then argued: “I think Sophie Chandauka is very upset and she felt was being used in his PR machine – I totally agree with her. He shouldn’t be doing that, Harry.”
Carole then waded in on the Duke of Sussex and fumed: “I think when a Prince second in line to the throne chucks in the Royal Family, calls them all racist, goes on national television and trashes the family, then writes a tell-all book – then people have very good reason to dislike him and not to trust him.”
In a tense exchange, guest Darryl Morris argued back: “What we seem to miss are the reasons that he feels this way. He feels the institution has mistreated him and his wife, and he feels the need to protect them. When you’re in a situation like that, you’ve got to do whatever you’ve got to do!”
The Charity Commission also added in its report that it was “not satisfied that public statements made to the media and public criticism made in television interviews were conducted in a way that served the charity’s best interests.”
A spokesman said to The Times: “The regulator has criticised all parties to the dispute for allowing it to play out publicly, and further concluded that the then trustees’ failure to resolve disputes internally severely impacted the charity’s reputation and risked undermining public trust in charities more generally.”
The Charity Commission stated “that concerns about relationships breaking down” were first noted with the watchdog in February this year. A compliance case was then launched in April, and for four months, interviews and evidence checks were conducted.
Sentebale, which means “forget me not”, was co-founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in memory of Princess Diana and Seesio’s late mother.
Reacting to the report, a spokesperson for Prince Harry reportedly said: “Unsurprisingly, the commission makes no findings of wrongdoing in relation to Sentebale’s co-founder and former patron, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. They also found no evidence of widespread bullying, harassment or misogyny and misogynoir at the charity, as falsely claimed by the current chair.”