The viral Meghan moment that laid bare rift between Harry and Sentebale chief: Video shows duchess moving charity boss out of way at Polo event – as Duke is sued for libel at High Court
The full video of Meghan Markle ushering Sentebale’s chief away from her husband – alleged to have started the row between Prince Harry and Sophie Chandauka now heading for the libel courts – has been released for the first time today.
Sentebale is facing scrutiny from England’s Charity Commission over its decision to sue the Duke of Sussex for defamation.
The watchdog is asking trustees if taking Harry to the High Court ‘furthers its purposes’ while a source close to the Duke has said: ‘Whether they’re using external or internal funds for the case, that money could still be used to support the charity’s work’.
Harry is being sued by the charity he founded in honour of his late mother, Princess Diana, following a high-profile dispute with its chairman Ms Chandauka.
The libel and slander lawsuit, against both the Duke of Sussex and his friend and former royal equerry Mark Dyer, was launched on Friday at the High Court.
An awkward exchange between Ms Chandauka and Meghan at a Miami charity polo event in aid of Sentebale in April 2024, where Meghan asked her to move away from Harry, is said to have started the row.
And today Hello! magazine has released the full excruciating video for the first time.
Meghan asked Dr Sophie Chandauka not to stand next to Prince Harry for a picture after he won the polo in April 2024
The highly awkward moment at the fundraising polo match for Sentebale
Dr Sophie had to duck under the trophy as Harry clung on to it
Meghan, who Dr Chandauka claimed had not initially been due to attend, arrived with her tennis legend friend Serena Williams.
The new Hello! clip shows Meghan being helped on to a trailer to present a polo trophy to her British husband, giving him an affectionate kiss before giving him the silverware.
Dr Sophie Chandauka then arrives on stage.
But the Duchess of Sussex then forced her to duck under the trophy, away from her husband.
Dr Sophie smiled politely and complied with the request.
Nothing was said at the time but a year later Ms Chandauka accused Meghan of having caused ‘disruption’ on a very crowded stage after turning up at short notice.
Dr Chandauka claimed that, prior to the charity polo event, Meghan confirmed she would not be attending – only to turn up with Serena.
Speaking to Sky News’ Trevor Phillips, Dr Chandauka recalled: ‘We would have been really excited had we known ahead of time [Meghan was coming], but we didn’t.
‘And so the choreography went badly on stage because we had too many people on stage. The international press captured this, and there was a lot of talk about the Duchess and the choreography on stage and whether she should have been there and her treatment of me.
‘Prince Harry asked me to issue some sort of a statement in support of the Duchess, and I said I wouldn’t.
‘Not because I didn’t care about the Duchess, but because I knew what would happen if I did so, number one. And number two, because we cannot be an extension of the Sussexes.’
The footage of Meghan and Dr Chandauka with Harry at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge in Miami has been watched millions of times online.
In the footage Dr Chandauka, who was stood on the Duke’s right, was asked twice by Meghan to move to her left side away from Harry, as he kept his arm around his wife.
Others therefore had to shuffle around them to find a place, with Dr Chandauka awkwardly having to duck under the trophy to get into the position Meghan was asking her to stand in.
Dr Chandauka then said something inaudible to her and Meghan appeared to give Harry a look.
Dr Chandauka later cited the video as she accused the duke of being ‘involved’ in a ‘cover-up’ of an investigation about bullying, harassment and misogyny at the organisation and said the ‘toxicity’ of his ‘brand’ had impacted the charity.
Meghan Markle speaks with Serena Williams at the 2024 Royal Salute Polo Challenge for Sentebale. Dr Chandauka claims that, prior to a charity Polo event in 2024, Meghan confirmed she would not be attending. But she then arrived with her tennis legend friend
Dr Chandauka (left) claimed she had been asked to defend Meghan Markle against negative publicity but refused
She claimed that before the polo event in Miami, Harry insisted on bringing his Netflix camera crew along.
‘About a month before the event was about to take place, Prince Harry called the team and said, ‘I’m doing a Netflix show, and I would love to bring a camera crew so that I can include some footage in this show’,’ she said last year.
‘And so the team called me and told me, ‘Oh, Prince Harry’s made this request, so we’re doing the things’.
‘I said, ‘you can’t be doing the things without seeking consent from the property owners, the sponsors, all the guests. Nobody signed up to being on a Netflix show’.’
She added: ‘We come up with draft agreements and of course, the venue owner says this is now a commercial undertaking.
‘So here are my terms. We couldn’t afford it. So now we lost the venue.’
The Charity Commission has said it has been in contact with Sentebale’s trustees.
The watchdog said it learned of the charity’s intention to sue the Duke of Sussex in February and is seeking to understand from trustees how the legal action would ‘further their charity’s purposes’.
Harry and his friend and former trustee, Mark Dyer, are being sued in the High Court for ‘defamation — libel and slander’.
Mr Dyer is a former trustee of the charity who has long acted as a mentor and ‘second father’ figure to Harry. The duke was an usher at his wedding in Wales in 2024.
The lawsuit comes after Harry dramatically quit the charity’s board last year following a bitter public feud with Dr Chandauka, whose leadership he described as ‘untenable’.
The charity’s trustees said they had been ‘deeply moved’ by the generosity of donors who have ‘stood firm alongside them’.
They said the legal action was being paid for ‘entirely by external funding’ and none of the charity’s money was being used.
They added: ‘The board and executive director trust that those who believe in Sentebale’s mission will understand why this legal action, while difficult, was necessary and important, and will continue to stand with us as we focus on the work ahead.’
Dr Chandauka claimed that they had to change the venue when the Sussexes asked for Netflix to attend
Sentebale, which means ‘forget-me-not’ in the language of Lesotho, southern Africa, was co-founded by the duke in 2006 to help young people with HIV and Aids in Lesotho and Botswana. It has faced a funding crisis since his departure a year ago.
The row with Dr Chandauka began in 2024 when the Sentebale board challenged her over a £400,000 bill for consultants they said had brought little return.
She was asked to step down but instead complained to the Charity Commission, alleging bullying, misogyny and racism. She accused the duke of trying to ‘eject’ her through ‘bullying’ and ‘harassment’, which he denied.
After a probe, the commission found no evidence of racism or bullying, but said there had been weak governance and criticised all parties for allowing an internal dispute to become public.
In March last year, trustees – including the duke and Mr Dyer – resigned en masse. Harry, 41, and his co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, resigned as patrons.
The duke and Mr Dyer ‘categorically reject these offensive and damaging claims’, a spokesman for the pair said.