Sentebale Pauses Libel Claim Against Prince Harry Amid Cash Squeeze
Sentebale has put its High Court defamation case against its own co-founder, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, on hold.
The pause was first reported by The Telegraph on 18 October, and follows an agreement between both sides to extend the deadline for filing formal reply papers The Telegraph. That extension halts the timetable. The claim cannot move forward until those documents are filed.
The case is a libel claim, a claim that false written statements caused serious harm. Court records showed in April that Sentebale had sued Prince Harry and former trustee Mark Dyer, according to Reuters reporting on 10 April Reuters. Sentebale accused the two men of being architects of an adverse media campaign that caused disruption and reputational harm.
A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Mr Dyer said they “categorically reject” the claims as “offensive and damaging”. The full details of Sentebale’s allegations cannot be made public until acknowledgement of service papers, the formal notice that a defendant has received the claim, and defence documents have been filed.
Money is now central to the pause. Sentebale fears the legal costs of pressing ahead could prove ruinous, The Telegraph reported. Figures published this month point to a sharp squeeze.
Sentebale reported a 20 per cent drop in income in the months after it launched the claim Hello Magazine. Income from fundraising events in 2025 fell to £70,000, down from £715,000 the previous year. Cash from institutions fell from £2.6 million to £1.7 million. The charity told The Times its general reserves stood at a £10,000 deficit, compared with a £232,000 surplus at the end of 2024.
The charity was co-founded in 2006 by Prince Harry in memory of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. Its work supports children affected by HIV in Lesotho and Botswana.
Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho announced in March 2025 that they were resigning from Sentebale after a dispute with the chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka. The Charity Commission, the regulator for charities in England and Wales, investigated. It concluded in August 2025 with criticism on all sides and faulted the public handling of the dispute.
No new date has been set for the next step in the court case. Until the reply papers are filed, the claim stays paused and its particulars stay private.
