Prince William's Earthshot Prize has announced a change in leadership, as CEO Hannah Jones is stepping down. She will be replaced by Jason Knauf, former CEO of The Royal Foundation, who has been appointed CEO by the Board of Trustees.
The pair are now working together to ensure a smooth transition over the coming months and Hannah will continue to give strategic advice on innovation and sustainability to Kensington Palace.
In February, Jason appeared in a new documentary for 60 Minutes Australia called, Where There's a Will. He lavished praise on the future King and said working for the prince and princess was 'the honour of a lifetime'.
Jason, who stepped down from his position with William and Kate at the end of 2021, also revealed that the prince was the "lowest" he'd ever been after receiving the news that both his wife and his father had been diagnosed with cancer.
He said: "It was awful, absolutely awful. It's the lowest I've ever seen him. Within a couple of weeks, if you're Prince William, you find out that both your wife and your father have cancer. I couldn't believe it."
The New Zealander previously worked as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's press secretary and he was the aide who accused Meghan Markle of bullying staff 'out of the royal household'. Meghan's legal team strenously denied the allegation.
When asked if it was tough to have the spotlight on him following the leak of his emails alleging bullying by Meghan, he said: "I wouldn't change anything."
Discussing William's relationship with Harry, Mr Knauf said: "It's very difficult to have this stuff play out in the public eye, but he'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.
"But I will say, of course, it's been hard and sad, especially for all of us who know both of them. I worked really closely with the two of them and we had lots of great times."
Hannah Jones was appointed in 2021 to lead William's environmental initiative and will be steppind down from her role this summer.
She said: “As I tell all our finalists in our annual Fellowship Retreat, one of the most important jobs of a CEO is to know the right time to step aside. After four years, and midway through the Earthshot decade, this is my time to pass the baton.
"It’s been a privilege to help bring The Prince of Wales’s founding vision to life. I’m incredibly proud of everything our team has achieved, deeply grateful to all our Founding Partners and Global Alliance for their support, and I am delighted to remain an enthusiastic member of The Earthshot family.”
William thanked Ms Jones for all of her hard work and said: “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.
"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.”
