The deepening and increasingly bitter row between Prince Harry and the chair of Sentebale is a grave blow for the Prince.
The charitable foundation has been close to his heart since his gap year when he fell in love with Lesotho while volunteering in an orphanage. He soon founded Sentebale with the African country’s Prince Seeiso.
It gave Harry a mission, which he saw as an extension of his late mother’s work. He often said he was committed for life, but last week he backed away ‘until further notice’.
Prince Harry only had two remaining causes from his old life, which he was trained for and where his charm and talents served him well: Sentebale and the Invictus Games.
Observers will have seen how his face lit up when discussing these – in contrast to the grim and sometimes confused look he often wears in California now.
The reason for this is simple. When working for Sentebale and the Invictus Games, he is putting something into life, not working for personal gain.
The curious thing about the Invictus Games is Prince Harry did a magnificent job in encouraging wounded soldiers they were not victims by getting them to compete actively in sport.
And yet in every pronouncement, be it in Netflix interviews or in his book, he has turned himself into a victim.
The deepening and increasingly bitter row between Prince Harry and the chair of Sentebale is a grave blow for the Prince. He is pictured with Sophie Chandauka in April
Meghan becomes tearful as they recount the online hate campaign against her and their relationship in their Netflix documentary
Prince Harry only had two remaining causes from his old life, which he was trained for and where his charm and talents served him well: Sentebale and the Invictus Games, Hugo Vickers (pictured) writes
In his Californian life, he and his wife have taken the celebrity route. This means they are continually reinventing themselves to stay relevant, and in that they have proved quite successful. They certainly attract publicity.
But this has also involved endless direction changes when something goes wrong.
The Sentebale row has the hallmarks of how difficult Harry and Meghan can be as employers, which we have seen before.
Even when at Frogmore Cottage, before they ceased to be working royals, Meghan was so rude to the sub-gardener that the late Queen got into her vehicle and drove over to tick her off.
There have since been innumerable examples of staff quitting, sometimes abruptly or at key moments, as for example when John Kettler, their chief of staff, left on the eve of their visit to Colombia.
Working royals have a back-up team to advise them. The Sussexes are forging a lone path.
Presumably when things go well, all is well in the office. But when they don’t, tension builds and tempers fray.
Prince Harry attends the The Invictus Games Foundation 10th Anniversary in May last year
The former home of The Duke and Duchess Of Sussex – Frogmore Cottage in Windsor
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are seen at the 2024 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre on July 11 in California
Comment now
There are rumours of bullying in the workplace, and no doubt some of these are well-founded.
The fall-out with Sentebale, it seems, only cements the suspicion they are not easy people to work with. The Sussex brand is now tainted – if it wasn’t already – which the chair of Sentebale Dr Sophie Chandauka appeared to have twigged when she refused a request by Harry’s team to defend Meghan following negative stories in the media.
The Duchess has strived to separate her personal brand from Harry, who is practically invisible in her later ventures.
But be under no illusion, no one would bother to watch what she does but for who she married – which somehow bestows a soap opera quality to their story.
Their brands are entwined, what damages one will inevitably damage the other.
It’s food for thought for the Duchess as the second series of her With Love, Meghan lifestyle show is announced, where she will use someone else’s kitchen to scatter petals into salads in between outfit changes (incidentally, I suspect Netflix announced the show’s return because it had already been filmed and they wanted to recoup their financial outlay).
I fear it will end badly for Prince Harry. It may be Invictus will consider him best-remembered as the founder of a great idea, and can thus avoid Meghan seizing the microphone and making it about her.
The problem with the celebrity route is it doesn’t last. New celebrities come along, and without half the baggage of the Sussexes. How long they have left in the public eye remains to be seen, but each damaging revelation shortens their reign.