Harry’s Africa charity rakes in a record £4.4 million

GLAMOROUS U.S. actress Meghan Markle is keen to be seen as a humanitarian and activist, but she has a lot to learn from her boyfriend, Prince Harry, when it comes to raising money for charity.

I can disclose that the organisation Harry set up to help African orphans, Sentebale, boasted an income of £4.4 million last year, £1 million more than in 2015. It means that the charity has raised a staggering total of £16.1 million since 2012. ‘Harry’s a phenomenon,’ a courtier gushes.

The amount raised in the year to August 31, 2016, is the biggest since Harry established Sentebale in 2006 with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, a tiny landlocked country in South Africa.

They founded Sentebale, whose name means ‘forget-me-not’ in the local dialect, in memory of both their late mothers.

According to accounts filed at Companies House, total spending for 2016 was £4.27million, also an increase on 2015 when £3.27million was spent. Harry has used events such as polo matches to raise money for the charity, with the latest game due to be played in Singapore next month. Last year, a concert was performed for 3,000 people in the gardens at Kensington Palace, featuring musicians such as the rock band Coldplay and singer Joss Stone.

The charity, which employs 35 staff, costing a total of £711,000, poached Cathy Ferrier from Oxfam to be its chief executive in 2012.

Sentebale chairman Philip Green said at the time: ‘She can really take the charity to the next level.’

Harry is reportedly planning to take Meghan to Lesotho in the autumn. The trip will mark a new milestone in their relationship, not least because it would be frowned upon to jet off on a taxpayer-funded trip with a mere girlfriend in tow.

Sentebale was once in such dire straits that former Tory Party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft donated £250,000 to avert a crisis.