Alex Rayner, who attended Eton with Prince Harry, has revealed how the Duke is coping in the face of the Sentebale row – and suggested ‘jealousy’ of Meghan could be at play

Harry is ‘beyond heartbroken and flabbergasted’ by the ongoing Sentebale row, according to a friend(Image: Getty Images)

‘Grief-stricken’ Prince Harry has yet to address the “shock” claims made against him in the ongoing Sentebale row, but his old friend has now spoken out. Alex Rayner attended Eton with Harry, and claims he spoke to the Duke over the weekend following a series of accusations made against the Prince by Sentebale chairwoman, Dr Sophie Chandauka MBE.

The zimbabwean lawyer accused Harry of ‘harassment and bullying at scale’ in scathing interviews over the weekend. Then on Monday, claims that Harry sent Sophie a direct “unpleasant” message after she refused to publicly defend his wife emerged. The charity boss’ refusal allegedly played a part in the duke’s decision to quit as co-patron of Sentebale, the charity he created to continue the legacy of his late mother, Princess Diana.

Dr Chandauka took over as Sentebale chair in July 2023(Image: PA)

And now in a bombshell interview, Alex has claimed that ‘H’ was ‘very happy’ for him to speak about the situation, describing him as “beyond heartbroken and flabbergasted” by the ongoing furore. “He is so upset and hurt and wounded about the things that are being said about him. I think it’s too early to tell whether he will just walk away now or whether he might try and get it back. The way he feels is as if he has had one of his fingers cut off,” Alex told The Daily Mail. “He set up Sentebale with a schoolfriend when the death of his mum was a fresh memory. At the moment he is just in total shock about what is being said and the accusations being made.”

Harry and Meghan have found themselves back in the spotlight (Image: PA)

Sensationally, Alex said he believes some of the accusations being made spring from “jealousy” of Harry’s wife Meghan. He specifically focused on the now-infamous awkward interaction between Meghan and the Sentebale chair at the Florida polo challenge in April last year. Meghan was caught on camera instructing Dr Chandauka to move positions on stage during the trophy presentation, a moment made all the more excruciating since Dr Chandauka was forced to duck under the trophy as it was being held aloft.

The footage generated huge publicity and, according to Dr Chandauka, Harry then contacted her asking her to issue a statement dismissing any suggestions of tension between the two women. But Dr Chandauka, who felt she had been treated with disrespect during the charity day, refused, saying she did not wish to “become an extension of the Sussex PR machine”.

Meghan was seen instructing Dr Chandauka to move in the now-infamous exchange(Image: sussexroyal_hm / Instagram)

He further argued that she should have issued the statement because if the narrative did take hold, ‘it is down to the chair to put it right’. “Any chair should have been delighted to have Meghan there. When you have both the Sussexes there it doubles the reaction, the power of it. And yet here she [Dr Chandauka] is refusing to get hold of a negative narrative which damages Meghan. It makes you wonder where it came from?”

As for the suggestion that Meghan effectively gatecrashed the event – Dr Chandauka said she had not been expected to attend, but then turned up with Serena Williams – Alex pointed to the fact that it was Harry’s charity event and therefore it should be expected that Meghan would attend.

Harry has stepped down as a patron of Sentebale(Image: Dominic Lipinski – Pool/Getty Images)

Harry and Meghan are yet to comment publicly on the row, but Sussex insiders have told the publication that Dr Chandauka’s account on the fundraising event in Miami is “highly misleading”. And following the lawyer’s interviews at the weekend, a source close to Sentebale’s former trustees and patrons said they “fully expected this publicity stunt”. “They remain firm in their resignation, for the good of the charity, and look forward to the adjudication of the truth,” the source added.

Sources close to the Duke have also said Dr Chandauka’s latest comments in the row are a “deflection”, and that the resignation of the trustees and Harry was as a “direct result of the chair’s mismanagement”.

Meanwhile, British historian and royal expert Dr Tessa Dunlop told the Mirror: “Even for those of us keen to give the Prince the benefit of the doubt, a pattern of entitlement and truculence is emerging. Prince Harry who, beyond Invictus, is little more than the husband of an influencer these days, needs to have a long hard think about where next. The most recent spat has left him with precious little wriggle room. Accusations of misogyny and bullying will go down like a lead balloon in their favoured liberal circles. It is deeply ironic that in 2016 Harry accused the British press of ‘abuse and harassment’ against his girlfriend, the very same terms that Sentebale’s chairperson has levelled against the Prince.”