A few years back, people consistently referred to Jason Knauf as Prince William’s “Michael Fawcett.” Fawcett was one of King Charles’s closest aides and confidantes for many years, and every time Fawcett got “in trouble,” Charles would fire Fawcett for a few months and then bring Fawcett back in some capacity. Fawcett eventually landed at Charles’s foundation, where he was central to many of the bribery schemes and cash-for-honours scandals. Fawcett was eventually kicked out yet again, although I’m sure he’s still close to Charles. You get the idea, and the comparison is apt – Knauf is sycophantic and he appeals to William’s worst instincts. For years, Knauf has been shifted around to various advisory and executive positions and never really left his core position, which is advisor to William and someone in charge of general “odd jobs.”

Knauf proved his loyalty to William over and over from 2018 through this year. Knauf was the one who trumped up the “bullying accusations” against the Duchess of Sussex, Knauf was the one trying to harm Meghan during her lawsuit against the Mail, and Knauf was the one sent out to give an interview to 60 Minutes Australia just before With Love, Meghan premiered. The 60 Minutes thing was a real “Peggy’s Loyal Soldier helps Peggy crash out ahead of Meghan’s cooking show” loyalty test. Which is why Knauf was “rewarded” with his new plum assignment: top CEO of Keenshot, I mean, Earthshot.

Prince William has “rewarded” Jason Knauf, Meghan Markle’s former press secretary, who denounced her as a bully, with a powerful new job as boss of his Earthshot Prize.

A colleague of Knauf’s, who worked with him at the palace, told The Daily Beast: “Jason has proved his loyalty to William and has been rewarded. He was caught in the middle of a very nasty situation with Meghan and he just told the truth. Jason is one of the good guys.”

The move will be seen in some quarters as yet further evidence that William could care less about reconciling with his brother and his wife, who have always denied Knauf’s allegations of bullying and denounced them as a smear.

The allegations that Meghan had “bullied” staff were originally made by Knauf in a 2018 letter to his boss, Simon Case, who worked for William. Knauf said Meghan drove two personal assistants out of the household and undermined the confidence of a third staff member, writing: “The Duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights.”

“She is bullying Y and seeking to undermine her confidence,” he continued. “We have had report after report from people who have witnessed unacceptable behavior towards Y.”

[From The Daily Beast]

Whenever Knauf’s 2018 letter to Simon Case is quoted, I always wish that two things were noted: one, Knauf’s letter was conveniently leaked to Valentine Low at the Times of London just days before the Sussexes’ Oprah interview aired in 2021 and two, that Low’s follow-up reporting, which was largely ignored, revealed that as soon as Meghan’s alleged “bullying victims” learned about Knauf’s letter to Case, they immediately rescinded their stories and refused to back up Knauf’s claims and none of them filed any kind of complaints formally or on the record. Anyway, I wasn’t surprised about the news of the Earthshot CEO position going to Knauf last week. But I’m glad that “sources” are making it perfectly clear that the Sussexes live rent-free in William’s bald head, and that William is continuously making all of these moves to “snub” the Sussexes or to make some kind of point about Harry and Meghan. William has significant problems.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar and 60 Minutes Australia.