Prince Harry 'in shock' after quitting his African AIDS charity following dispute

London: Britain's Prince Harry said he was "in shock" after quitting as a patron of Sentebale, a British charity he set up to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana, following a row between trustees and the chair of the board.

Harry, the younger son of King Charles, co-founded Sentebale in 2006 in honour of his mother Princess Diana nine years after she was killed in a Paris car crash. Sentebale means 'forget-me-not' in the local language of Lesotho in southern Africa.

Co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, as well as the board of trustees, joined Harry in leaving Sentebale following a dispute with chair Sophie Chandauka, who has taken legal action to try to retain her position.

"It is devastating that the relationship between the charity's trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation," Harry and Seeiso said in a joint statement published on Sky News on Wednesday.

Harry, who lives in California with his wife Meghan and two children, stopped working as a member of the royal family in 2020. He has been heavily involved in causes in Africa for many years and visited Nigeria last year.

The trustees had acted in the best interests of the charity in asking the chair to step down, the joint statement said.

"Although we may no longer be Patrons, we will always be its founders, and we will never forget what this charity is capable of achieving when it is in the right care," it added.

Reuters has contacted Britain's Charity Commission and Sentebale for comment.