Prince William’s colleague revealed insights into the royal’s behind-the-scenes motivations ahead of his appearance at The Earthshot Prize awards ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this week
Prince William’s former aide has shared insights into the future King’s behind-the-scenes approach to his global environmental initiative, The Earthshot Prize. Jason Knauf, who has worked closely with William for many years, serves as the chief executive of the initiative, which the Prince launched in 2020.
The challenge recognises and scales innovative solutions to “repair” the planet, awarding each of the five winning finalists £1 million to further develop their ideas.
Starting today, Prince William begins a five-day trip to Brazil, participating in a series of events ahead of The Earthshot Prize ceremony on Wednesday.
A father of three, he has consistently emphasised the importance of creating “a sense of hope about the future” for his children by acting “boldly now”.
While the ceremony isn’t until Wednesday, Jason praised William for his hands-on involvement in already helping this year’s finalists scale up solutions.
“This decade is critical. It is a window in which we still have time to act, and because Prince William believes it can be a great human success story, he approaches it with urgency and optimism,” Jason told Hello! Magazine.
“He gets on the phone, attends meetings, and is always thinking about how he can create new opportunities for our finalists. He enjoys supporting their leadership and ideas and is really focused on how we can all do more.”
During the upcoming ceremony, William will congratulate the five finalists and, according to Jason, he will encourage them to “be even more ambitious”.
“He knows we have to do more. Because of what science requires and what our finalists want to achieve, he’s never satisfied until they get close to their goals. Especially at this halfway point, it’s clear we must make a big impact,” he added.
William’s active involvement with The Earthshot Prize comes after royal experts discussed how he might cope if he ascends to the throne sooner than expected.
Since becoming Prince of Wales following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022, he has taken on a larger constitutional and ceremonial role, including representing King Charles at state functions and international trips.
According to Kate Nicholl of Vanity Fair, William’s huge responsibilities demonstrate a high level of trust.
“He wouldn’t be handling important meetings with leaders like Trump or Macron if Charles didn’t believe he was absolutely capable,” she said in the Channel 5 documentary William and The King: Like Father, Like Son.
“William has proven himself to be a very capable international statesman.”
Kate also claimed that a royal aide expressed confidence in William becoming King, despite concerns about his relatively brief tenure as heir apparent.
“I asked an aide if William is ready should his time as King arrive sooner than anticipated,” she added. “Their response was immediate, ‘He’s absolutely ready.’ This person has known William for decades.”
