Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will likely be “infuriated” by Prince William’s decision to hire their former royal aide, a commentator has suggested.
Jason Knauf, who in 2018 raised internal concerns about Meghan’s alleged treatment of palace staff, has just been appointed CEO of William’s Earthshot Prize.
Jason previously served as the communications secretary and later CEO of the Royal Foundation for William and Kate. He had also worked as press secretary for Harry and Meghan when they were still part of the royal fold.
Prince William appoints Jason Knauf, former aide to Harry and Meghan It was recently revealed that the current CEO of The Earthshot Prize—a global environmental initiative founded by Prince William in 2020—Hannah Jones, will be stepping down this summer.
Jason has already joined the organisation and will officially assume her position in the coming months.
The move feels anything but accidental.
“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,” Prince William shared in a statement.
“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.
Jason Knauf’s appointment will anger Harry and Meghan, commentator says Speaking to Fox News Digital, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said: “Prince William’s decision to make Jason Knauf, the former private secretary of the Sussexes, the CEO of his most prestigious project will infuriate Harry and Meghan. It is impossible to avoid feeling that this is precisely what William intended.”
“As far as the Sussexes are concerned, [Knauf] undoubtedly has pariah status. [But] William is clearly showing he doesn’t care about what his brother thinks, much less Meghan,” he continued.
Jason Knauf’s involvement in the Meghan ‘bullying’ allegations Back in 2018, while serving as a royal aide, Jason expressed concerns via email about Meghan’s alleged behaviour towards staff.
He claimed that Meghan’s supposed “bullying” had caused two aides to resign and had severely affected the confidence of another.
In 2021, the existence of this complaint was made public. Meghan has consistently denied any allegations of bullying.
After the accusations surfaced, Jason found himself thrust into the headlines. Earlier this year, he addressed the fallout during an interview with 60 Minutes Australia.
When asked whether it was “tough” dealing with “unwanted public attention,” Jason responded: “I think it’s tough, but it’s probably quite good. You know someone who has been helping other people through how to deal with the public eye. You probably had to take your own medicine sometimes.”
“You can’t choose just to take the fun stuff in any job. And that applies to the Prince and Princess [of Wales] as well as everyone else working for them. So I wouldn’t change anything,” he added.
When asked if he would have handled anything differently, Jason simply said: “No, it’s not what I would’ve sought, but you know, at the end of the day, you get to do an amazing job. You’ve got to take everything that comes with it.”