The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have never been known to carry a well-rounded reputation, especially amongst American audiences, but it seems as if the people they work with have a fair amount of negative opinions to share, as well.
When Meghan Markle arrived at a charity Polo event in 2024 with her “very famous friend” tennis legend Serena Williams, it caused more of a “disruption” than she would have figured, according to a new interview.
As Sentebale chair Dr. Sophie Chandauka sat down with Trevor Phillips from Sky News, she revealed a few damaging claims against the royal couple, while calling their brand “toxic” and accusing Harry of “harassment and bullying at scale.”
A new bombshell interview revealed how Meghan Markle “disrupted” a charity Polo event in 2024
Prior to the event, Meghan had informed others she would not be attending, though it seemed as if her presence would’ve been welcome.
“We would have been really excited had we known ahead of time [that Meghan was coming], but we didn’t,” Dr. Chandauka said.
So when she showed up with one of the most prominent figures in the sports industry, it came as a surprise and threw everything into chaos.
Reportedly, when everyone was on stage, Meghan asked Dr. Chandauka not to pose next to Harry as he celebrated the Royal Salute Polo Challenge in Florida.
The chairman was supposedly requested twice by the Duchess to move away from the Prince as he kept his arm around his wife.
The awkward arrangement resulted in others having to shuffle around them to find a place, with Dr. Chandauka ducking under the trophy to get into the position Meghan had requested her to stand in.
“The choreography went badly on stage because we had too many people on stage,” the chairman recalled.
She also went on to talk about how that moment blew up in the international press, saying there were a lot of conversations surrounding the strange choreography, whether Meghan should have been present, and “her treatment of me.”
The chairman of Harry’s charity said Meghan’s unexpected arrival resulted in chaos and awkwardness
When Prince Harry asked Dr. Chandauka to issue a statement in support of the Duchess, she flat out refused.
“Not because I didn’t care about the Duchess, but because I knew what would happen if I did so, number one,” she clarified. “And number two, because we cannot be an extension of the Sussexes.”
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams only echoed what Dr. Chandauka said to Daily Mail. Though Meghan’s unexpected arrival doesn’t seem like a big deal, these kind of carefully planned events can be at jeopardy if even the slightest thing goes wrong.
“Meghan was not expected at a polo match in 2024 and this caused confusion which was symptomatic of the chaos which Dr. Chavunduka claims the charity had descended into,” he told the outlet.
“She refused to issue a statement in support of Meghan, there had been an awkward incident between them,” referring to what happened on stage.
He added, “The ferocious feud that has split Sentebale, which Prince Harry co-founded in memory of his beloved mother, Princess Diana, will be a bitter blow to him, as he now has no link with a charity that he has been involved with since 2006, when he co-founded it.”
As news broke about Meghan’s behavior, Prince Harry requested a statement in favor of his wife — only to be shut down
Though heavily denied by representatives of both Harry and Meghan, Fitzwilliams also said accusations of “bullying against” the former echo accusations that had been against his wife.
“Harry has been accused of bullying and harassment. There are echoes here of the allegations against Meghan which appeared in the Times before the infamous interview they gave on Oprah, which she strongly denied,” he said.
“However, they have recently surfaced in The Hollywood Reporter and Vanity Fair. They will surely adversely affect the Sussexes’ image.”
Just last week, Prince Harry announced that he, as well as several other trustees, had quit Sentebale, the charity he set up with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, due to a boardroom battle within the organization.
Dr. Chandauka then chimed in to accuse the Duke of being “involved” in a “cover-up” of an investigation centered around bullying, harassment, and misogyny at the organization, claiming the “toxicity” of his “brand” had impacted the charity.
“What a pair of losers,” one netizen labeled the couple
