Jason Knauf, who was the royal aide behind the Meghan Markle bullying claims, has a new gig with Prince Harry‘s estranged brother, Prince William.
On Thursday, April 17, Knauf was announced as the new CEO for William’s charity, The Earthshot Prize. He was appointed by the Board of Trustees.
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“I am honored to be appointed as the next CEO of The Earthshot Prize and look forward to working with our exceptional team and incredible Earthshot community to advance our mission of urgent optimism for our planet,” Knauf said in a statement. “The Prize has already achieved so much and the future potential is vast. I can’t wait to get started.”
Knauf is taking over for Hannah Jones, who will officially step down in the summer. After four years with The Earthshot Prize, Jones will continue to advise Kensington Palace for innovation and sustainability measures.
“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,” he said 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.”
Knauf previously worked as a communications secretary for William and Princess Kate Middleton in addition to Meghan, 43, and Harry. In 2018, Knauf filed a complaint that accused the Duchess of Sussex of bullying. The complaint claimed that Meghan drove two personal assistants out and undermined the confidence of a third staff member. Meghan denied the allegations.
“The Duchess is 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,” a rep for Meghan said in a statement to Us at the time.
Us reached out to Meghan’s rep following Thursday’s news about Knauf’s appointment.
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Two years later, Meghan and Harry stepped down as working members of the royal family. The couple left the United Kingdom and moved overseas to Montecito, California. Meghan and Harry put down roots with their two children Prince Archie, now 5, and Princess Lilibet, now 3.
In June 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that its investigations into the claims against Meghan had concluded and their findings would not be made public. A source told Us at the time that Meghan was happy that her name had been cleared.
“Meghan is a fair boss and never bullied anyone who worked for her at the Palace in the first place. She’s happy that her name has been cleared from the defamatory claims,” the insider said. “She and Harry are looking forward to putting the incident behind them and are happily moving on with their lives in Montecito.”
Last fall, several of Meghan’s current and former staffers exclusively spoke to Us about what it was like to work for the duchess as she worked on her entrepreneurial and philanthropic initiatives in the U.S. Ashley Hansen, then head of communications for Archewell, recalled how supportive her bosses were when she needed to take time off for a serious surgery.
“When I told them, I was met with the kind of concern and care a parent would express if it were their own child,” she told Us in September 2024. “I was asked what I needed, how and if they could help, and told to take as much time as I needed.”
