Harry and Prince Seeiso’s resignation statement in full

The Duke of Sussex has resigned from a charity he set up 20 years ago, saying he was “in shock” and “truly heartbroken”.

Harry established Sentebale in Lesotho in honour of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, with Prince Seeiso – and in a joint statement they said they had resigned as patrons until further notice, to support several trustees who have done the same.

Here is the duke and prince’s statement in full:

“Nearly twenty years ago, we founded Sentebale in honour of our mothers. Sentebale means ‘forget-me-not’ in Sesotho, the local language of Lesotho, and it’s what we’ve always promised for the young people we’ve served through this charity.

“Today is no different.

“With heavy hearts, we have resigned from our roles as Patrons of the organisation until further notice, in support of and solidarity with the board of trustees who have had to do the same. 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.

“These trustees acted in the best interest of the charity in asking the chair to step down, while keeping the wellbeing of staff in mind. In turn, she sued the charity to remain in this voluntary position, further underscoring the broken relationship.

“We thank all the trustees for their service over the years and are truly heartbroken they’ve had to follow through with this act.

“What’s transpired is unthinkable. We are in shock that we have to do this, but we have a continued responsibility to Sentebale’s beneficiaries, so we will be sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about.

“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.”