Prince Harry has stopped donating Diana memorial fund money to Sentebale, redirecting his share to African charity Elephants Without Borders in Botswana.
The Duke of Sussex opted to switch his annual donation after years of supporting Sentebale, the charity he co-founded in memory of his mother to help orphans. Harry shares the annual income of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund with his brother Prince William.
In tribute to his support, Elephants Without Borders has named two elephants after Prince Harry's children, Archie and Lili. Founder Dr Mike Chase, who has known the Duke for more than two decades and is counted among his so-called African family, said the support has always been a tremendous honour.
Dr Chase confirmed that the money donated was used to fit satellite-tracking collars to two magnificent elephants in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. Archie chose a blue collar for the elephant named in his honour, while Lili chose a purple collar for hers.
Dr Chase told the Telegraph that he was deeply grateful for the support through the Diana Memorial Fund. He hoped the Duke's very strong passion for the Okavango Delta, Botswana, its people, and its wildlife would be inherited by his children.
"We wanted to pass on that legacy to the kids, in the hope that his passion for Okavango and Botswana would rub off on them, and to allow them to monitor the elephants in real time across the world,"
Dr Chase said. He added:
"It means a great deal to us and to the elephants we are working so hard to protect."
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, previously donated to the charity by giving her fee for narrating the Disney film Elephant to them. Shortly after they met, the couple enjoyed a romantic break to Botswana, joining Dr Chase in tracking and tagging animals on World Elephant Day.
Funding history and Sentebale split
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was established shortly after her death in 1997 and closed in 2012. It is legally controlled by the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales. While it no longer actively fundraises, it still receives some legacies and donations.
When Harry and Meghan quit royal duties in 2020, an agreement was made to divide future proceeds between the two brothers for charities of their choosing. Annual accounts filed by the Royal Foundation show Sentebale received £43,866 from the Diana fund since 2020, with the final payment of £16,743 made in 2024. The latest accounts reveal that in 2025, Harry's share of £5,432 went to Elephants Without Borders for the first time.
The charity switch follows an explosive public fallout with Sophie Chandauka, the board chairman of Sentebale. Ms Chandauka accused Prince Harry of operational disruption and reputational harm to the charity he co-founded in 2006 to support young people living with HIV and Aids in Lesotho and Botswana by conducting an adverse media campaign.
Court action was filed in the High Court against Harry and another former trustee, Mark Dyer, in March this year. Harry has rejected the allegations as offensive and damaging.
Sentebale was once central to Harry's work, and he gave the organization an extra donation of £1.2m from the profits of his memoir Spare. However, a bitter public power struggle for control over the charity led to Prince Harry, co-founder Prince Seeiso, and a group of trustees resigning in March 2025.
Regulator findings and High Court claims
The Charity Commission strongly criticized all sides when it published a report into the row, rapping them for playing out the dispute in public. The regulator said all trustees contributed to a missed opportunity to sort out the issues, potentially causing wider damage to the charity sector by eroding public confidence.
While the regulator acknowledged the strong perception of ill treatment felt by some parties involved, it found no evidence of systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir at the charity, which Ms Chandauka had alleged. A source said in August 2025 that Harry had been left emotionally devastated by the events, after 19 years of working with the charity.
In a statement when the court case was filed, Sentebale said it was seeking the court's protection because its work had been undermined following a coordinated adverse media campaign conducted since 25 March 2025 that has caused operational disruption and reputational harm. The charity stated that Harry and Mark Dyer were identified through evidence as the architects of that adverse media campaign.
Sentebale added:
"Sentebale has experienced the adverse media campaign as false narratives circulated through the media about the charity and its leadership, attempts to undermine its relationships with staff, existing and prospective partners, and the forced diversion of leadership time and resources into managing a reputational crisis not of the charity's making."
When the case was filed, a spokesperson for Prince Harry and Mark Dyer said the charity should be focusing its efforts on the communities supported by Sentebale, rather than pursuing legal actions.
