Prince William’s leadership of his Earthshot Prize environmental initiative has demonstrated “the sort of leader he wants to be,” a close ally has said.
Jason Knauf, the project’s chief executive, has celebrated the Prince of Wales’s “updated” royal agenda, combined with reverence for the past.
On Saturday, William hailed the “heroes of our time” as he announced the finalists for the 2025 cohort of his Earthshot Prize.
The November 5 ceremony will be held in Rio de Janeiro and will award five projects with a £1million grant to support their innovative environmental projects.
Mr Knauf, who was previously CEO of The Royal Foundation, has worked side by side with the future King for the past 10 years.
As such, he suggested that the Prince of Wales’s leadership of Earthshot showed: “The sort of leader that Prince William wants to be, both now and in the future.
“(William) does care deeply about tradition, about his family’s legacy of service,” the chief executive explained.
In Mr Knauf’s mind, William’s role in Earthshot was a “really good example” of how he will see that legacy “maintained in the future”.
Prince William’s has demonstrated ‘the sort of leader he wants to be’ according to a key ally
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“That’s what his grandmother did,” the Prince’s ally told Sky News.
However, Mr Knauf suggested Earthshot was more than a continuation of the tradition of royal patronage, adding it had been adapted “in a way that makes sense for the time”.
“One of the things about the royal family for generations, has been recognising the work of others,” he explained.
“You know, whether that’s through the honours system, recognising people in arts and community service or whatever it might be, all this is doing is taking something that’s really traditional and putting a modern twist on it,” the Earthshot official continued.
The Prince of Wales’s Earthshot prize was said to reflect an “updated” reverence for royal tradition
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“We didn’t just create this thing in a vacuum. It was about what kind of difference could his (William’s) leadership make?”
Mr Knauf compared William’s current projects and future ambitions to the reign of current reign of King Charles.
“That’s what his father’s been doing. Updating the tradition for the generation that they serve,” the royal ally added.
In a video announcement of this year’s Earthshot finalists, the Prince of Wales shared that he was “deeply proud” of the prize’s achievements since it launched in 2020.
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William said he was ‘deeply proud’ of the Earthshot project
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William added that he was “enormously excited” about the future of the project.
To that end, he emphasised the goal to build a future that was: “Cleaner, safer and full of opportunity – not only for future generations, but for the lives we want to lead now.”
Over the past five years, the Earthshot Prize has already generated significant environmental impact through its 60 previous finalists.
The upcoming Rio ceremony at the Museum of Tomorrow will coincide with the UN climate change conference COP30 in Belém, marking the first time both events occur in the same country during the same week.