Prince William has appointed the aide who accused Meghan Markle of bullying as CEO of The Earthshot Prize.
It follows news from the organisation that Hannah Jones will step down as CEO this summer after four years leading Prince William’s environmental initiative.
Jason Knauf, former CEO of The Royal Foundation, has been appointed by the Board of Trustees as her replacement.
He sent an internal email expressing serious concerns about the Duchess of Sussex’s behaviour towards Palace staff in 2018.
Prince William has appointed the aide who accused Meghan Markle of bullying as CEO of The Earthshot Prize
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In the leaked email, he wrote: “I am very concerned that the Duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. The treatment of X was totally unacceptable.”
“The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights. She is bullying Y and seeking to undermine her confidence.”
Buckingham Palace launched an internal review into these claims, though the findings were never made public.
The Duchess of Sussex denies all claims of bullying.
Jones was appointed in 2021 to lead the Prince of Wales’ environmental initiative.
Under her leadership, the Prize has held ceremonies in London, Boston, Singapore and Cape Town.
She has overseen support for 60 global Finalists from over 5,000 nominations and has disbursed £20m in grants to winners and catalysed over £90m for solutions.
The Prize’s 60 Finalists have collectively reduced 420,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions and protected 170,000 square km of land and oceans.
Their solutions have also saved 2.5M tonnes of water and improved the lives of 4.4M people.