There was no evidence of widespread bullying, harassment or misogyny at the Sentebale charity founded by Prince Harry, the charity regulator has found.<\/p>\n
The Charity Commission has published its findings into whistleblower allegations that followed a bitter boardroom dispute that saw Prince Harry resign<\/a>, along with several trustees, earlier this year.<\/p>\n No sanctions have been imposed on the charity, with the current leadership remaining in place, but the commission criticised “all parties” for allowing a “damaging” dispute to play out publicly.<\/p>\n Prince Harry’s spokesman criticised parts of the report as falling “troublingly short”, while the charity’s chair said the “adverse media campaign” from those who resigned caused “incalculable damage”. <\/p>\n The commission has given the charity, which supports young people in southern Africa, a regulatory action plan to deal with “governance weaknesses”.<\/p>\n It’s a bittersweet outcome for Prince Harry who has left the charity, which his spokesman said had been “deeply personal” to him.<\/p>\n Much of the criticism from the commission focused on how the internal dispute descended into such a public argument in the media, which it said had damaged the charity’s reputation.<\/p>\n The row had seen Prince Harry accused of being a “toxic” brand<\/a> by the charity’s chair, Sophie Chandauka – and he had stepped down, saying his and the trustees’ relationship with her was broken “beyond repair” and that they had faced “blatant lies<\/a>“.<\/p>\n “Sentebale’s problems played out in the public eye, enabling a damaging dispute to harm the charity’s reputation, risk overshadowing its many achievements, and jeopardising the charity’s ability to deliver for the very beneficiaries it was created to serve,” said Charity Commission chief executive David Holdsworth.<\/p>\n Prince Harry’s team welcomed the finding that there had not been evidence of bullying, though a spokesman said the report “falls troublingly short” in that the “consequences of the current chair’s actions will not be borne by her”.<\/p>\n Ms Chandauka, remains at the head of the charity, with the watchdog finding no reason for her not to continue.<\/p>\n She said: “We are emerging not just grateful to have survived, but stronger.”<\/p>\n A Sentebale spokesman said that the report confirmed that the new trustees had been validly appointed and could move forward “free from interference”.<\/p>\n The Charity Commission also said that although there was no evidence of widespread or systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir (discrimination against black women), it acknowledged a “strong perception of ill treatment felt by a number of parties” and said it wasn’t its role as a regulator to adjudicate on individual claims of bullying.<\/p>\n The commission has not sanctioned any individuals, but its regulatory action plan is meant to address problems such as a lack of clarity over roles and a better mechanism for handling internal disputes.<\/p>\n It warned of “weaknesses in the charity’s management” that had added to disagreements.<\/p>\n