Prince Harry has redirected the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund income he controls from Sentebale to Elephants Without Borders, with The Royal Foundation's 2025 accounts recording a £5,432 payment to the Botswana charity. Sentebale had received £43,866 from this fund since 2020, including a final £16,743 in 2024. The move follows a public dispute and resignations at Sentebale that prompted a Charity Commission review; Sentebale later launched a defamation claim against Harry and a former trustee.
Prince Harry Redirects Diana Fund Share To Elephants Without Borders Amid Sentebale Dispute
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Prince Harry has redirected the portion of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund that he controls away from Sentebale — the charity he co-founded — to Botswana-based conservation group Elephants Without Borders.
The Royal Foundation's 2025 accounts, reported by LBC, show a £5,432 payment to Elephants Without Borders. By contrast, Sentebale received £43,866 from this stream of Diana Fund income between 2020 and 2024, including a final instalment of £16,743 in 2024.
How the arrangement works
The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund stopped operating as an independent grant-making charity and, in 2013, The Royal Foundation assumed legal control to protect the fund's name and receive any future income. Under the current accounting arrangement, half of the net proceeds received through the Diana Fund since 18 December 2019 are donated by The Royal Foundation to a charity chosen at the Duke of Sussex's request. The 2025 accounts note:
'In accordance with a request by The Duke of Sussex, half of the net proceeds received by the Diana Fund since 18 December 2019 are being donated to a charity of The Duke's choosing. In 2025 all funds will be donated to Elephants Without Borders.'
About Elephants Without Borders
Elephants Without Borders undertakes wildlife research, conservation and community education in Botswana. Its work includes satellite monitoring of elephant movements, efforts to reduce human-wildlife conflict around protected areas, and local environmental programmes. Harry has worked with the organisation before: in 2017 he assisted with fitting a satellite collar to a bull elephant, and in 2019 he joined a reforestation and education project along the Chobe River.
Why Sentebale’s funding changed
Sentebale — founded in 2006 by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in memory of their mothers — supports children and young people in southern Africa, especially in Lesotho and Botswana. The decision to reassign Harry's portion of the Diana Fund follows a public dispute within Sentebale that prompted trustees to step down and led the princes to resign as patrons in March 2025.
Britain's Charity Commission reviewed the matter and, in August 2025, found no evidence of widespread or systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny. The regulator did identify governance weaknesses and criticised the parties for allowing the conflict to damage Sentebale's reputation.
In March 2026 Sentebale brought a defamation claim in London's High Court against Prince Harry and former trustee Mark Dyer, alleging an adverse media campaign beginning in March 2025 that harmed the charity's operations and reputation. A spokesperson for Harry and Dyer said they 'categorically reject' the allegations. Sentebale has said its litigation is funded entirely by external sources and that charitable funds are not being used to pay legal costs.
What this means
The change underscores how charitable funding tied to high-profile names can shift when governance disputes arise. It also highlights Harry's continued interest in conservation work in southern Africa and the ongoing legal and reputational consequences of the Sentebale dispute.
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