RUSSELL MYERS ‘Prince Harry’s ugly row is painful to watch – and Meghan flogging clothes won’t save him’

Prince Harry has taken the extraordinary step of resigning from Sentebale – the charity the co-founded in honour of Princess Diana – finding himself in the centre of a bitter boardroom battle

Prince Harry has been no stranger to controversy throughout his royal life and beyond. But now he finds himself at the centre of a war of words even he couldn’t have seen coming.

Moved to take the extraordinary step of resigning from the charity he co-founded in his mother’s honour, the Duke of Sussex is at an unusual crossroads facing a raft of allegations from the very person he claims to be taking a stand against. The ugly tit-for-tat exchange of statements in the past 24 hours has resulted in Harry charged with abandoning his duties not only as patron of Sentebale, but also the needs of innocent children from some of the poorest communities on the planet.

Amid a backdrop of disputes, understood to have arisen from decisions to focus fundraising in Africa, Sentebale – which means forget me not, Princess Diana’s favourite flower, in the local language of Lesotho where the charity was founded – has found itself paralysed between two sides vying for the upper hand.

How unsavory that Harry and his co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho who lost his mother in 2003, have entered into such a public display of posturing. The chairwoman of charity brought in to lead the organisation toward its 20th anniversary next year, Dr Sophie Chandauka, has issued a damning statement in which she alleged there had been “poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir”.

Far from being on the outskirts of the boardroom battle that has taken hold, Dr Chandauka appears to take aim at Harry himself by suggesting his version of events were not all they seem. Following the news Harry was making a stand against her governance of the charity, the chair shot back: “There are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct.”

Harsh words indeed for the prince who has been embroiled in various legal wranglings with the media and British government in recent years while hawking his story out to the highest bidder, signing multi million pound deals with Netflix and the publishers of his bombshell memoir, Spare. The two princes say “with heavy hearts” they are standing up for the integrity of the charity and in solidarity with the rest of the trustees, which is where this dispute lies.

A pending investigation by the Charity Commission in the UK is an issue Harry could well do without. His post-royal life may have slightly brought more riches than headaches but where does it leave him? With his wife Meghan forging a career for herself in the billion dollar influence sphere, complete with a new Netflix show, podcast and hawking clothes for commission on Instagram, Harry would have preferred to concentrate his efforts on his charitable endeavours.

The latest installment of his Invictus Games event proves he still has a part to play in using his profile for good, but just how damaging this unpleasant row lingers is anyone’s guess.