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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s rebranded charitable foundation will be led by their former communications secretary, Kensington Palace revealed today.
Jason Knauf will become the chief executive of the organisation which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex left earlier this summer to establish their own foundation.
The royal aide, who used to head the Kensington Palace press office, will replace ex-BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey when she stands down in the autumn.
Jason Knauf (left) will replace Lorraine Heggessey (right) as chief executive of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s rebranded charitable foundation when she stands down
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (left) joined the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (right) to launch the first Royal Foundation forum in London on February 28, 2018
William and Kate have paid tribute to Ms Heggessey, who has been in the post for two-and-a-half years, saying she played an ‘integral role in our charitable initiatives’.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said in a statement: ‘We are very grateful for her hard work and support, and wish her the very best for the future.
‘We are pleased that Jason has been appointed as CEO and very much look forward to working with him in his new role.’
Harry and Meghan added: ‘It has been a great pleasure to work alongside Lorraine over the past couple of years, to champion the causes that we feel so strongly about, and we wish her well for the next stage of her career.’
William and Kate, and Harry and Meghan were stood far apart for Trooping the Colour on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on July 8
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their baby son Archie at Windsor Castle on May 8
The palace also revealed that the Royal Foundation will become the ‘principle charitable vehicle for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’ from October 1.
This will effectively see the last thread holding the two couples together cut.
Mr Knauf was previously director of corporate affairs at the Royal Bank of Scotland and worked at HM Treasury and for the New Zealand government.
Ms Heggessey said: ‘This was one of the most amazing opportunities of my career.
‘It has been a huge honour to work with Their Royal Highnesses to try to change mind-sets on a wide range of issues, from the Heads Together mental health initiatives through the wellbeing of veterans to conservation.
‘I am very proud of what The Royal Foundation has achieved during this exciting period of growth. However, as it enters its next phase, I believe it is the right time for me to step down and to pursue my interests in the media sector.’
It comes a month after it was revealed Harry and Meghan would formally split from their joint charity with William and Kate and set up their own foundation.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex broke away from the Royal Foundation in what is seen as the final step in the division of the couples’ public duties.
It follows claims over the past year of a rift, first between Kate and Meghan, and then between future king Prince William and his younger brother, Harry.
Royal sources have denied the changes were linked to these claims, but many will have seen it as part of the ongoing distance between the couples.
William, Kate, Harry and Meghan’s joint Royal Foundation venture was intended to harness the star power of the four top royals, but it lasted just 16 months.
After their first appearance as a foursome at the first Royal Foundation forum in London in February 2018, they were dubbed the ‘Fab Four’.
However, although the inaugural event was billed as an annual affair, just the single engagement took place.
William and Kate have remained with the original charity, which is being renamed the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Sources said part of the move was to do with the four royals becoming two established couples with families, and also inspired by the division into two separate working households.
The change is aimed to set the couples on ‘a path that is sustainable for the future’, they said. William is a future king and Kate a future queen consort, while Harry is only sixth in line to throne.
The ‘Fab Four’ appeared in February 2018 to promote ‘the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’.
But the two households have split since , with the Sussexes leaving Kensington Palace for Frogmore Cottage in Windsor and appointing their own staff.
The Foundation said the move to split last month followed a structural review, and both couples will continue to work together including on the Heads Together mental health strategy.
The Foundation, which had an income of £7.83million last year, on top of £9million in 2017, said that the decision was made to ‘better align’ their charitable activities.
Harry and Meghan had already split from the Cambridges’ Kensington Palace household, setting up their own at Buckingham Palace in the spring, with a separate head of communications and SussexRoyal Instagram account.
The SussexRoyalInstagram account has 9.2million followers – just behind the KensingtonRoyal account for William and Kate which has 9.7million followers.
Royal aides previously said that the foursome were to remain joint patrons of the Royal Foundation.
The duke and duchess, who have welcomed baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor in May, also moved from London’s Kensington Palace – home to William and Kate and their children – to live at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
During the Q&A last February, they were quizzed on if there were disagreements, with William replyingL ‘Oh yes’.
Harry also spoke about ‘healthy disagreements’, adding he could not remember if they had all been resolved because they ‘come so thick and fast’.
Harry said he and Meghan were ‘really looking forward to working as a pair and as a four going forward and hoping to make as much of a difference where we can’.
Meghan said: ‘Thank goodness (there are) such differing personalities and everyone’s very communicative because that’s how you can really see bigger change.’
The Royal Foundation was set up by William and Harry in 2009 to run all their charitable campaigns and ventures, and joined by Kate when she became Duchess of Cambridge in 2011.
Meghan joined in May 2018 after becoming an HRH, with the charity’s title later officially changing to The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The Foundation focuses on issues such as helping young people, wildlife conservation, cyberbullying and supporting the military.
In 2017, the princes were widely praised for leading a campaign to tackle the stigma of mental health illness and speaking out about how they had personally suffered following the death of their mother Princess Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997.
The body has set up successful charity campaigns including Heads Together, the Endeavour Fund and projects with the Invictus Games for wounded or disabled veterans.
The split is likely to lead to claims the two charitable organisations will be rivals with the foundations vying for publicity and funds in areas like wildlife conservation or support for military veterans.
In January 2018, William called on charities to combine forces, rather than establishing more individual organisations.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at a flypast to mark the centenary of the RAF on July 10, 2018
Harry and Meghan have left Kensington Palace for Frogmore Cottage in Windsor (pictured)
In a keynote speech to the Charity Commission, he said at the time: ‘Instead of setting up more individual charities working in the same fields, I wonder if we could do more to explore ways of combining forces, working and innovating together?’
How TV queen Lorraine Heggessey was the first woman to run BBC One
Lorraine Heggessey has a long career in TV, having begun at BBC News as a trainee in 1979.
She also worked for Channel 4 show Hard News, edited the science series QED and was a producer on Panorama.
Ms Heggesses became the first woman to run BBC One and commissioned hits including Strictly Come Dancing, and the relaunched Doctor Who in her role there from 2000 until 2005.
She then moved to Talkback Thames, the producer of the Britain’s Got Talent and The Apprentice, in a job swap with Peter Fincham, and stayed there for five years.
Then in April 2017, she was appointed chief executive of The Royal Foundation, and stayed in the role for two-and-a-half years.
Asked what the biggest challenge of running BBC One was, she said in 2015: ‘Actually it was what to wear. It’s a real problem if you’re a woman… the possibilities are endless.’
The duke added: ‘Competition for funds between an ever-growing number of charities, and the confusion it can cause among donors, can lead to the silo-ing of expertise and, at worst, territorial behaviour.’
William said a big change was needed, adding: ‘The sector must be open to collaborate, to share expertise and resources; to focus less on individual interests and more on the benefits that working together will bring.’
It follows reports last month that Harry and Meghan want to recruit ‘his and hers’ aides from the Foreign Office to help with their bid to become global power figures.
Royal sources told The Mail on Sunday that after losing several key members of staff, the couple were in the process of hiring ‘most of their new team from scratch’.
Meghan lost her assistant private secretary Amy Pickerall in May, and Heather Wong, who does the same job for Prince Harry, is thought to be moving to a new role.
The couple are hoping eventually to replace both, and have invited diplomats to apply for the first job.
An internal message says successful applicants will need ‘senior leadership and management experience’ and ‘have confidence putting alternative ideas forward’.
Interviews are also being conducted for a new joint private secretary and the couple are understood to be seeking someone with experience at Buckingham Palace.
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