1 day Ago By [email protected] (Jennifer Newton)
New details of the 'unpleasant' message Prince Harry is accused of sending to the head of his former African charity have now emerged. The Duke of Sussex allegedly sent the 'imperious' message to Sophie Chandauka after she failed to publicly quash rumours of a rift with his wife, it was reported. The claim was made in the wake of Harry's decision to dramatically quit as patron of Sentebale - an HIV charity he founded almost 20 years ago - along with his co-founder and other trustees, amid a boardroom battle with Dr Chandauka.
In a recent interview, Dr Chandauka claimed that after an awkward moment between her and Harry's wife Meghan was captured on camera at a polo match to raise funds for Sentebale last year, she was asked to issue a statement by Harry's team defending the duchess. She said she refused the request saying, "We cannot become an extension of the Sussex machine". It was then reported that Harry sent her a direct message asking her to "explain herself", using "imperious" language and leaving the charity chair "taken aback".
And now sources have told the Daily Mail that the message was "fairly extraordinary" in tone, with Harry asking Dr Chandauka, "How are you going to deal with this?" According to the publication, the message would "reinforce others people's ideas that he is used to people being subservient to him". So far, Harry and Meghan have not publicly addressed the row, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's office has declined to comment to the Mirror . However, sources close to the couple have said that some of the claims are attempts to "deflect from the serious matters at play here.
" The clip of the seemingly tense encounter between Dr Chandauka and Meghan has now resurfaced on the back of the explosive Sentebale row. It took place at the charity's polo fundraiser in April in Florida last year. Footage from the trophy presentation appeared to show Meghan asking Dr Chandauka not to pose next to Harry as he celebrated his win.
Meghan awkwardly signalled for Dr Chandauka to move by repeatedly waving her hands towards the opposite side of the stage. As a result, others on stage had to move up to make enough space, and the charity chairwoman was forced to duck under the trophy to move into the spot Meghan had seemingly assigned her. In an interview on Sky News, Dr Chandauka addressed the event claiming that Meghan had only decided to turn up at short notice - bringing her "very famous friend" Serena Williams with her.
Recalling the day to Sir Trevor Phillips, she claimed: "We would have been really excited had we known ahead of time [Meghan was coming], but we didn't. "And so the choreography went badly on stage because we had too many people on stage. The international press captured this, and there was a lot of talk about the Duchess and the choreography on stage and whether she should have been there and her treatment of me.
" Prince Harry asked me to issue some sort of a statement in support of the Duchess, and I said I wouldn't. Not because I didn't care about the Duchess, but because I knew what would happen if I did so, number one. And number two, because we cannot be an extension of the Sussexes.
" Yesterday, Alex Rayner, a pal of Harry's from their days at Eton College , defended Meghan after saying he had been authorised to speak out by the Duke. He stated that Dr Chandauka should have been "delighted to have Meghan there". He told the Daily Mail: "When you have both the Sussexes there it doubles the reaction, the power of it.
And yet here she [Dr Chandauka] is refusing to get hold of a negative narrative which damages Meghan. It makes you wonder where it came from?" Addressing claims that Meghan turned up to the event unannounced, he added: "It's Harry's charity polo match and Meghan is his wife, of course, she should have expected her there." Earlier this week, a source close to the former trustees and patrons of Sentebale dismissed Dr Chandauka's comments as a "publicity stunt".
They added: "They remain firm in their resignation, for the good of the charity, and look forward to the adjudication of the truth." In a joint statement issued last week Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho backed the departing trustees and stepped back as patrons until further notice, saying it was 'devastating' that the relationship between Sentebale’s trustees and chairwoman of the board "broke down beyond repair". Get the inside scoop on the monarchy with Mirror Royal WHATSAPP GROUP: Be first to get the biggest royal bombshells and exclusives to your phone by joining our Royal WhatsApp here .
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