Prince William recently made a shocking move amid news that he’s taking the Crown sooner than expected. The Prince of Wales hired his and Prince Harry’s former aide, who accused Meghan Markle of bullying via Yahoo.
On April 17th, Prince William appointed Jason Knauf as the CEO of his initiative, Earthshot Prize. He will be replacing Hannah Jones, who served at the organization for four years.
“As the first CEO, Hannah has built The Prize into a world class organization with an incredible team delivering an annual Prize, powering a platform for speeding solutions to scale, and catalyzing 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,” he added.
Knauf was a communications aide to both Harry and William in the mid-2010s. He was also notably responsible for filing a complaint that accused Meghan of bullying, claiming she drove two personal assistants out of the household and undermined the confidence of a third staff member in 2018.
In response, a spokesperson for Meghan said she was “saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma. She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good.”
The appointment comes as reports emerged that Prince William will inherit the throne and that one of his first orders of business is to curb Prince Harry’s influence.
“It’s no secret William wants Harry more harshly dealt with. He thinks he has betrayed the family from top to bottom, which is the ultimate Windsor crime. It wouldn’t take much to provoke him to flex his muscles when he is king,” a palace insider told The Daily Beast.
Another insider noted that while Prince William has a lot of influence on policy, he’s adamant to include Harry in his reign.
“Charles has a softly-softly attitude to Harry and Meghan, and so that’s the policy for now, but the gloves will be off when [William] inherits the throne. If they started using the HRH titles on a regular basis, he would take them away for good,” the source said.
Knauf offered a rare comment on the brothers’ public feud with each other in an interview with 60 Minutes Australia. “It’s very difficult to have this stuff play out in the public eye, but [William]’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,” Knauf recounted. “But I will say, of course, it’s been hard and sad, especially for all of us who know both of them.”
