The Prince of Wales has issued a statement following a change in leadership of his Earthshot Prize.
CEO Hannah Jones is set to step down from her role this summer after four years, with Prince William and Kate's former royal aide, Jason Knauf, appointed to the position.
Hannah will continue to provide strategic advice on innovation and sustainability to Kensington Palace, and will work with Jason to ensure a smooth transition over the coming months.
Thanking Hannah for her work, William said in a statement: "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.
© Getty Images"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."
Former palace aide
Jason, who is the former CEO of the Prince and Princess of Wales's Royal Foundation and previously worked as their communications secretary from 2015 to 2021, appeared in a special episode of 60 Minutes Australia in February.
© Getty ImagesDuring the rare interview, Jason said that the Prince was at his "lowest" after the Princess of Wales and King Charles were both diagnosed with cancer within weeks of one another.
Describing a phone call with William about Kate's diagnosis, which was made public in March last year, Jason said: "It was awful, absolutely awful. It's the lowest I've ever seen him.
"But the problem was that all this crazy conspiracy theory stuff kicked off in the background, online. 'Was she really ill?'.
"But they didn't want to say yet that she had cancer because they hadn't told the children and they were still working through how to tell the children."
© InstagramSpeaking about his new role, Jason said: "I am honoured 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. The Prize has already achieved so much, and the future potential is vast. I can't wait to get started."
Ahead of her departure, Hannah 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.
© Getty"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."
The next Earthshot Prize Awards will be held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in November. The previous ceremonies were hosted in Cape Town last year, Singapore in 2023, Boston in 2022 and London in 2021.
