Prince Williamhas brought his former royal aide Jason Knauf back into the fold as he’s been appointed as the next CEO of his beloved Earthshot Prize. Mr Knauf, former CEO of the Royal Foundation and ex-communications secretary at Kensington Palace, is taking over from Hannah Jones who will be stepping down from her role this summer.
Ms Jones was appointed in 2021 to lead William’s environmental initiative and will continue to give strategic advice on innovation and sustainability to Kensington Palace. She will step down in the summer and is working with Mr Knauf to ensure a smooth transition.
Mr Knauf left the royal household at the end of 2021 to move abroad, having worked for the Prince and Princess of Wales for seven years.
He also worked as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s press secretary and reported Meghan Markle for allegedly bullying staff ‘out of the royal household’ in 2018.
The Duchess has always denied the allegations, which she described as an orchestrated smear campaign against her.
In February, Mr Knauf appeared in an Australian documentary ‘Where There’s A Will’ where he spoke publicly about the controversy and said he “wouldn’t change anything” and has “no regrets”.
Discussing William’s relationship with Harry, Mr Knauf said: “It’s very difficult to have this stuff play out in the public eye, but he’s chosen to keep his thoughts on it private, and I think all of us who know him really have to respect that we should do the same.
“But I will say, of course, it’s been hard and sad, especially for all of us who know both of them. I worked really closely with the two of them and we had lots of great times.”
Elsewhere in the interview, he lavished praise on William and Kate and said the estrangement between the royal brothers has been “hard and sad”.
In a statement, William thanked Ms Jones for all of her hard work and said he was looking forward to working with his former aide as they enter the final few years of the Earthshot Prize.
He said: “As the first CEO, Hannah has built The Prize into a world class organisation with an incredible team delivering an annual Prize, powering a platform for speeding solutions to scale, and catalysing a movement to encourage young people, spark imaginations and infuse urgent optimism across the world.
“As we look ahead to the future of The Prize and the urgent work needed to scale more inspiring solutions to the world’s greatest challenges, I look forward to working with Jason to chart the course for the next five years of The Earthshot Prize and beyond.”