Sentebale scraps fundraising polo matches after feud with Prince Harry

The event had long been associated with the Duke of Sussex, who regularly took part. Accounts published on Friday showed polo would not return as the charity’s flagship fundraiser.

The decision comes as Sentebale attempts to rebrand ahead of its 20th anniversary, after it was rocked by allegations of bullying, racism and misogyny.

The claims, made by chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka, led to the resignation of Harry as patron and triggered the departure of several trustees.

The report outlined a wider cost-cutting drive, including plans to reduce annual spending by £1million and attract more institutional support.

The charity said it is seeking to move away from reliance on high-profile individuals and sporting events to secure long-term stability.

Iain Rawlinson, a trustee, told the Telegraph: “These polo games, which attract great generosity from high-net worth individuals or funds who want to support the charity – those events definitely have their place. We’re not being critical about that as a concept.

“The reason for [dropping it] is it puts quite a lot of pressure on individuals, and it can mask structural weakness in the financial model of the charity.”

Mr Rawlinson pointed to Harry's £1.2million donation from the proceeds of his memoir, Spare, which he said had obscured “fault lines” in the charity’s finances.

He added: “Those problems can be summarised by saying there was a very narrow but very loyal donor base for the charity.

“But it also masked the very high level of cost… where those costs could only be borne by the virtue of the generosity of Prince Harry.”

He said prospective institutional funders now wanted “a more resilient financial model, which is not dependent on a single patron, for example”.

Sentebale reported income of £3.35million last year, down from £3.41million in 2023, and confirmed it has already secured 70 per cent of next year’s funding goals.

The charity has also closed its London office, which cost £650,000 annually, as part of its savings plan.

Mr Rawlinson said: “If you have got a £600,000 plus cost in the centre of the organisation, which is not programme specific and can’t be recovered through programmes, you have to go and do events.

“You have to lean on the patron to play polo, you have to do all of that type of thing. And then that creates a certain modus operandi in the organisation.”

A new code of conduct has also been introduced after the Charity Commission criticised “all parties” for allowing internal disputes to escalate publicly.

The Duke, who co-founded Sentebale with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, described himself as “utterly devastated” when he resigned as patron last year.

Supporters allege Dr Chandauka sought to mount a “hostile takeover” and suggest the Duke may establish a new African charity to continue his work.

Commenting on the latest accounts, Dr Chandauka said: “This 16-month period marks Sentebale’s bold transformation: building stronger programmes, governance, and financial resilience.

“We tackled structural weaknesses head-on: slashing our cost base by £1m through workforce restructuring and contract renegotiations, while protecting 92 per cent of our vital Africa-based staff who power our high-performing regional team.

“We retained 100 per cent of our institutional funders and secured over 70 per cent of 2026 funding goals.

“As we reach our 20th anniversary next year, Sentebale is poised to soar, empowering even more children and young people across southern Africa to claim their futures.”