Last week was London Climate Action Week and Prince William had events on two separate days. For all of his events, he had Jason Knauf by his side. Knauf is the former Kensington Palace communications secretary and current Earthshot CEO. A lot of people have questioned and belittled Knauf’s move to Earthshot, given his complete lack of credentials in business, finance, green energy, etc. But I see Knauf’s CEO position as an admission that Earthshot was built around William and his image, that it’s all a PR exercise to give William something to do which makes him feel big and important. And hey, they pay supermodels to come and hang out with William too, because he’s such a stud, right? Anyway, this all goes hand in hand with something written by Rhiannon Mills at Sky News: “Prince William has had a lot to say this week – but is anyone listening?” Ouch. Some highlights:
Prince William has had a lot to say this week, attending three events about the environment as part of London Climate Action Week and giving three speeches. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t really heard what he had to say. The eyes of the world have, understandably, been elsewhere.
Conflict, not the climate crisis, has been the primary focus of world leaders and continues to be – a problem you could say for William and all those trying to whip up momentum ahead of COP30 in Brazil, with only four months to go until the UN’s climate conference in November.
It was William and his team who specifically convened a meeting at St James’s Palace on Thursday with the Brazilian ministers in charge of the summit and indigenous leaders from other parts of the world.
When I put it to a palace source that maybe it all feels a bit futile in the current climate, with attentions firmly elsewhere, I was told there is “no change in course” – the prince always has and will continue “to use his platform to spotlight the need to restore the planet”.
In the past, we’ve been more used to his father being more vocal. The King’s involvement in London Climate Week was more fleeting, albeit involving a handshake with a giant gorilla puppet, and a discussion with the Brazil delegation in which he hinted that he would love to attend the summit in November, saying: “It’s fitting it all in.”
Attendance by either the King or the Prince of Wales hasn’t been confirmed yet, although it’s looking likely William will go. He told one person this week: “I’ll be in the area”, with his Earthshot Prize being held in Rio in the days running up to the climate conference.
“I was told there is ‘no change in course’ – the prince always has and will continue ‘to use his platform to spotlight the need to restore the planet’.” This reminded me of the Caribbean Flop Tour, where William and Kate got some of the worst press of their lives and they were completely unable to shake things up, or improvise or do anything other than their magnificently stupid colonialist cosplay. No change in course! Improvisation is unroyal! Anyway, yeah, the royal reporters are very bored with William and they’re growing tired of the cult of silence around Kate as well. Royal gossip/reporting in the summer is usually pretty dead, but I wonder if these people might feel compelled to drag Peg and Kitty post-Wimbledon.
Meanwhile, the big keen He-Man environmentalist had a global spotlight to speak about green energy and the businesses Earthshot has recognized, and all William could do was remind people to turn off the lights in their palace when they leave.
William turns off the lights #WorkShyWilly #BillyIdle #PrinceWilliam #RoyalFamily #RoyalCharity #WillyWashing #Greenwashing pic.twitter.com/4Sxo5w5hzE
— #NotMyKing (@NoKingCharlie) June 27, 2025
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales and former Mayor of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg attend the “Leading with Impact” event, as part of London Climate Action Week, at Bloomberg headquarters in London, Britain, June 24, 2025.,Image: 1014470281, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: – Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red/Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales attends the “Leading with Impact” event, as part of London Climate Action Week, at Bloomberg headquarters in London, Britain, June 24, 2025.,Image: 1014472476, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: – Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red/Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales and former Mayor of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg attend the “Leading with Impact” event, as part of London Climate Action Week, at Bloomberg headquarters in London, Britain, June 24, 2025.,Image: 1014472485, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: – Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red/Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales speaks during the “Leading with Impact” event, as part of London Climate Action Week, at Bloomberg headquarters in London, Britain, June 24, 2025.,Image: 1014474211, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: – Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red/Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales, attends the ‘Investing for Impact’ event at The Guildhall in London on June 26, 2025. Hosted by The Earthshot Prize, ‘Investing for Impact’ spotlights success stories from the Prize and the broader environmental community provides an opportunity for potential investors to connect with environmental solutions.,Image: 1015150607, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: JUSTIN TALLIS/Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales, attends the ‘Investing for Impact’ event at The Guildhall in London on June 26, 2025. Hosted by The Earthshot Prize, ‘Investing for Impact’ spotlights success stories from the Prize and the broader environmental community provides an opportunity for potential investors to connect with environmental solutions.,Image: 1015150636, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: JUSTIN TALLIS/Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales, attends the ‘Investing for Impact’ event at The Guildhall in London on June 26, 2025. Hosted by The Earthshot Prize, ‘Investing for Impact’ spotlights success stories from the Prize and the broader environmental community provides an opportunity for potential investors to connect with environmental solutions.,Image: 1015151580, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: JUSTIN TALLIS/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales and former Mayor of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg, during the ‘Leading with Impact’ event in central London as part of London Climate Action Week. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales with Former Mayor of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg Where: London, United Kingdom When: 24 Jun 2025 Credit: Carlos Jasso/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
William is not taken seriously. From stopping war in the Middle East to ending homeliness in the UK. You expect zero results and he never disappoints.
“the prince will continue to use his platform to highlight… blah, blah, blah” Not much of a platform if no one notices or cares about anything you are doing.
A reporter really needs to investigate and write about William and his family using helicopters as a taxi service, his 4 homes and the fact that earthshot spends almost 10mil on throwing a traveling environment prize for PR, paying celebrities who don’t care about the environment to said prize and with not much to show for it.
His personal carbon footprint is larger than many small countries. It is insane to take him seriously on this.
And so much of his waste is because he’s covering for the separate life he lives from his wife, another massively wasteful person.
Pretty much. Chopper rides as taxis
“to use his platform to spotlight the need to restore the planet”.
You first Willy and after that Flybe stunt, everything Earthshit does is petty to the max.
What about the private jets to Mustique and football games in Europe? The whole world can see that Willie is the biggest environmental hypocrite by saying “do as I say, not as I do!” What a farce! Also, I never understood why Earthshit ceremonies are held all over the world! Wouldn’t it be more environmentally appropriate to have the ceremony is, say London, and have those outside the UK just attend virtually? SMDH
What about the private jets to Mustique and football games in Europe? The whole world can see that Willie is the biggest environmental hypocrite by saying “do as I say, not as I do!” What a farce!
THIS TIMES A MILLION!!!
Jason looks like he is trying to stop himself from holding Willies hand , bless his heart .
If they weren’t both despicable people I would be happy for them, because they certainly do seem to have an undeniable chemistry.
Right? It stands out because this is the least awkward William has ever been. There’s a bit of Monty Burns and Smithers to this, but also…something else. Wills is having fun at this event. And we never see that. By contrast, remember how strange his behavior was around Kate when they went to the wedding in Jordan?
Look how Will is smiling to the cameras to give photos with his bestie. He doesn’t smile like that for his wife, even though that girl is trying everything.
“to use his platform to spotlight the need to restore the planet”
I mean, at this point, do we really need a future heir to raise awareness or to actually do something using his enormous wealth and access? He doesn’t get any attention, because he isn’t doing anything expected from a man that wealthy.
If he actually did something practical with his platform instead of using Earthshit as an endless series of photo-ops as a vanity project then people might start believing him.
But he doesn’t so he’s all hot air and his taxpayer funded lifestyle shows he doesn’t practise what he preaches.
Well, Willy is raising awareness that the Earth is in trouble and his wife is raising awareness that we should pay attention to children…
Two things we didn’t know before! *eye roll*
Well Peg the lights in your palace have been off for a very long time. You bring nothing to this cause except photo ops with celebrities and poorly written and delivered speeches. No one hears you because you’re not worth listening too. Sit down fake global statesman!
Apart from Tom and Cate, he’s not bringing A-listers to Earthshit and if they’re not paid like Heidi, who would attend?
The Press wasn’t even at the event Prince Harry spoke at and he actually got more notice than Peggy with his propaganda press and army of bots. Taking those titles (Peggy’s monthly rant) will surely make everyone ignore Harry and of course that means everyone will focus on peg and his titles 🙄🤭.. sort it just makes me laugh because Peggy’s bubble 🫧 of delusion is going to burst big time.
But as long as the rats pay tribute to him, he doesn’t care.
I’d like to see the people in the Aston Villa forums burst his bubble because that’s the only way to reach him at this stage.
William has been told his whole life that he is special but in reality he really isn’t. He has no charisma or charming personality for people to enjoy. His chosen causes of environmental concerns and homelessness ring so hollow from a man of huge wealth who has a massive carbon footprint. When I see posts about William even from friendly uk outlets there are never any comments and few likes.
Jason and William are so in sync. Couple vibes
Prince Edward is in PEI, Canada for 5/6 days, and BM is talking about a Rose’ wine.
He looks like a clown in a military uniform dripping with medals.
This is not the headline William and KP would have wanted coming out of last week. To be honest I didn’t know that it was London Climate Week. He has to be upset that he’s not getting attention he craves and the his press is insisting on focusing on Harry and Meghan.
I haven’t read that Bulliam did anything at the London Earthshot thing last week, except grin at Knauf. You’d assume he gave a speech, but I’ve seen nothing about it (could be I missed it), so did he even speak?
You’d assume PR guy Knauf would at least be competent enough to draw press eyes to this event. Guess not.
William is a such flop
No one is paying Willy dust because they know it’s all fluff and he’s not doing anything substantive about the environment. Whereas Harry was in NYC and that was all I saw along with Meg’s pre launch of her As ever rosé. He just doesn’t rate with them unless it’s to denigrate and even then…
If Prince William had not been at this event would the author have still felt the need to basically right an Iran is being bombed so who cares about climate change article?
Nice try Rhiannon, but it’s not world events that cause the press to ignore William. The Middle East is in flames and the BM still made space to rant about Meghan. William just doesn’t sell – he doesn’t say or do anything of consequence and he’s not an interesting person on his own.
Okay yeah, I was confused by this. The argument that no one is listening bc climate issues aren’t as popular as conflict. But saying William is going to stay the course sounds almost like a complaint. As in they want him to focus on the conflicts instead? Bc that would be worse. It’s interesting bc Rhiannon didn’t have to even make the point that no one is listening. But was the point of even mentioning it really? That William isn’t newsworthy or that we’re supposed to feel bad for not paying attention to the climate?
There are a few reasons no one takes him seriously with this.
First, he’s boring as dirt. this isn’t a death knell to getting the spotlight – but people who are more boring and less charismatic usually have to put in more work to get attention. It may not be fair, because boring doesn’t mean you don’t have good ideas or know what you’re talking about – but it is what it is especially in the age of 24/7 news coverage and social media. Al Gore is boring but is taken seriously when it comes to climate change because he has been consistent and putting in the work to get others to take this seriously for decades.
Second, along those lines, William seems to think that because he is the future king, he can wave a hand and people will say “ohhhh now we need to do something!” You can really see how being raised as the entitled heir who never had to work for anything and was never told “no” impacted him. He has zero self-awareness about how others perceive him.
Third, while Earthshot may be good in theory, making it a traveling awards show with lots of (paid) celebrities has diminished its purpose. We hear more about the celebs who attend than we do about the nominees and the winners. And while I know William has visited some of the nominated projects a few times, he really should be doing more to spotlight the actual work.
Finally, William has made zero effort to change his own lifestyle and people know that. When he’s using a helicopter like an uber, when he travels everywhere in a multi car motorcade, when he and his family hop from estate to estate and then take multiple private planes every year for vacation – it all rings hollow and is very “do as I say not as I do.”
So no, he’s not going to get a lot of attention for weeks like this. People just don’t take him seriously when it comes to this.
And also, if the press wanted to write about him, they would. There’s a whole royal rota in the UK that should be writing about him. Instead they’re writing about – rose wine and flower sprinkles.
Yes, with digital editions, it’s not like the editor says “we don’t have room.” They have plenty of room for a hundred pieces on Meghan’s raspberry spread.
And really, even if William was an interesting man who did actual good work, he still wouldn’t get a lot of press. I mean, how much do we hear about Al Gore? The press is after gossip and turmoil and cat fights – sane and serious people just focus on their jobs. Plus, William shot himself in the foot. If he hadn’t fomented so much hatred against Meghan, we probably wouldn’t hear so much about her, either
Will he or his daddy dare challenge the gross orange American on his visit about climate change and saving what is left of breathable air…no, of course not. Anyone who challenges the wart hog gets punished.
William’s statements on climate change are just so… tepid. “We need to care about our planet!!!” Yes okay but that’s the bare minimum of caring about climate change. A lot (not all) believe that in some way and pretty much all climate activists are saying much much more.
As the article points out, Charles is someone else who’s said a lot about this but the difference is that Charles was saying things that were considered revolutionary or at least different for time. He also walked the walk by implementing organic farming in the Duchy. He was mocked for it but he stuck by it and now a lot of what he’s said is commonly accepted.
So if William wants to actually make a difference, he needs to be at the tip of the spear and actually be different. Otherwise he’s just another voice of numerous people saying the same thing.
Yeah, even some of Charles’s projects lost money and some rich donors had to bail it out, but at least he was doing something instead of just raising awareness.
William is a bit player in the climate realm. He’s an unserious person, so he’s not taken seriously.
Richard Palmer commented about his about the Keens years ago — they give the media noting to work with to promote these causes. He didn’t give an interview. He didn’t sit down with both TV and print and podcasts etc. His office didn’t arrange for the media to interview anyone William works with or supports. Etc. What would they be covering? Nothing more than his attendance and a basic speech with no call to action.
Because they’re sidetracked wondering if Jason is his lovahhh?
The uncharacteristic smile is what caught my attention in the photo at first glance.
And, I had the impressing William’s hand was on Jason’s knee which, of course, it wasn’t…
Strange photo reeking of back story.