Prince Harry is facing a lawsuit from the charity he co-founded 20 years ago to honor his late mother, Princess Diana.
A court record made public Friday shows the charity, Sentebale, which provides support to young people in Lesotho and Botswana living with HIV, filed a defamation claim in March in London’s High Court against Harry and his close friend, Mark Dyer.
The court record shows Harry and Dyer, a former Sentebale trustee, are being sued for libel and slander. No additional information was available.
In this Feb. 26, 2026, file photo, the Duke of Sussex visits the World Central Kitchen Food (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 on its website Friday, writing, “Sentebale has commenced legal proceedings in the High Court of England and Wales.”
“The charity seeks the court’s intervention, protection, and restitution following a coordinated adverse media campaign conducted since 25 March 2025 that has caused operational disruption and reputational harm to the charity, its leadership, and its strategic partners,” the statement continued, in part. “The proceedings have been brought against Prince Harry and Mark Dyer, identified through evidence as the architects of that adverse media campaign, which has had significant viral impact and triggered an onslaught of cyber-bullying directed at the charity and its leadership.”
Sentebale added in its statement the organization is using “external funding” for the legal action.
“The charity should not continue to use its resources to manage and address the damage this adverse media campaign has caused to its operations and partnerships. This must stop,” the statement continued. “The Board and Executive Director have taken this legal action to secure that protection. The costs of doing so are met entirely by external funding and no charitable funds have been used.”
In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Harry and Dyer said in a statement to ABC News Friday the pair “categorically reject” its claims.
“As Sentebale’s co-founder and a founding trustee, they categorically reject these offensive and damaging claims. It is extraordinary that charitable funds are now being used to pursue legal action against the very people who built and supported the organisation for nearly two decades, rather than being directed to the communities the charity was created to serve,” the spokesperson said.
Harry, a son of King Charles III, co-founded Sentebale with Lesotho’s Prince Seesio after spending his gap year in the country in 2004.
Harry has said Sentebale, which means “forget me not” in Sesotho, the official language of Lesotho, was intended as a tribute to his late mother Diana, whose favorite flower was the forget-me-not and who was one of the early pioneers to destigmatize HIV/AIDS.
Harry and Seesio resigned from their roles as patrons of Sentebale in March 2025, describing the relationship between the nonprofit’s chairwoman and its trustees as “beyond repair.”
“With heavy hearts, we have resigned from our roles as Patrons of the organisation until further notice, in support of and solidarity with the board of trustees who have had to do the same,” Harry and Seeiso said in a statement at the time, shared with ABC News. “It is devastating that the relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation. These trustees acted in the best interest of the charity in asking the chair to step down, while keeping the wellbeing of staff in mind. In turn, she sued the charity 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 heartbroken they’ve had to follow through with this act.”
At the same time as the co-founders’ resignations, Sentebale’s chairwoman, Sophie Chandauka, accused its board of trustees of “poor governance” and “bullying” and the charity confirmed a “restructuring” of its board.
In a report released in August, the United Kingdom’s Charity Commission — the government entity that regulates registered charities in England and Wales — said it found no evidence of “widespread or systemic bullying or harassment” at Sentebale. The commission added that Sentebale had a “lack of clarity” in its structure that led to confusion, and criticized the charity for allowing its internal dispute to “play out publicly.”
Prior to his resignation as patron, Sentebale had long been a passion project for Harry, who has made many private and public visits to Lesotho over the years and has raised money for the nonprofit through charity polo matches and other fundraisers.
In 2015, Harry visited Lesotho for the opening of the Mamohato’s Children Centre, where he named the dining room the “Princess of Wales Hall,” after Diana.
