By Molly Claire Goddard
12:25pm PDT, Oct 17, 2025
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From 2016 to 2017, Meghan Markle served as global ambassador of World Vision Canada, a humanitarian charity that aims to help vulnerable children and communities overcome poverty and injustice. Now, the organization's U.K. extension is being "assessed" by the Charity Commission for
alleged racism, homophobia, misogyny and creating a "toxic" and "hostile" work environment. Senior leadership allegedly "ignored, silenced or inadequately handled" complaints, and eight staff members reportedly left the charity in the past few months either because they were forced to step down or due to feelings of discomfort. According to the complaint, World Vision's HR department confused two Black female employees, and employees mispronounced the names of non-white colleagues and imitated their accents. Some female employees also claimed they were patronized during meetings and made to feel uncomfortable. Additionally, employees claimed that NDAs were "routinely used to silence staff leaving after negative experiences." The charity is reportedly undergoing its second restructuring in less than a year, with about 60 of 200 staff members on the chopping block.
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World Vision U.K. refutes the claims. "We have contacted the Charity Commission and while any member of the public can make a complaint to them, there is no investigation against the charity. If the commission contacts us in relation to any complaint, we will of course cooperate fully," a representative
said in a statement. "World Vision U.K. operates by the highest standards set by the Charity Commission. Our processes are devoted to meeting those high standards across all of our operations."
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The Charity Commission confirmed they are looking into the matter. "We are currently assessing concerns about World Vision U.K. to determine what, if any, role there is for the commission as regulator," a spokesperson said.
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The scandal comes after Meghan Markle and
Prince Harry were honored as Humanitarians of the Year at the Project Healthy Minds Gala. In their acceptance speech, the couple spoke about the achievements of their Archewell Foundation to promote online safety. "We knew this movement needed to grow. These families are not only up against corporations and lobbyists, many of whom spend tens of millions of dollars every year in suppressing the truth, but also algorithms designed to maximize data collection at any cost," the Duke of Sussex said.
