by - Jacinda Ardern is teaming up with Prince William for his Earthshot Prize Awards initiative.
- The outgoing Prime Minister of New Zealand said she was “humbled” to become a director of the company.
- Her new role comes after starring in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix docuseries.
The Earthshot Prize Awards have won a new administrator in Jacinda Ardern.
The outgoing Prime Minister of New Zealand was named the latest member of Prince William’s environmental initiative in a press release from Kensington Palace shared with Insider on Tuesday. Ardern, 42, announced his surprise resignation in January, citing a lack of energy to contest the upcoming election, Insider previously reported.
“It’s time,” the centre-left politician said at her party’s annual meeting on January 19, The Guardian reported. On the job since 2017, Ardern said she “didn’t have enough in the tank.”
But now it looks like Ardern has turned his attention to environmental causes in his partnership with William’s Earthshot Prize Awards.
In her statement shared in the press release, Ardern said she was “humbled and thrilled to be working with the Earthshot team.”
Prince William is greeted with a Hongi, a traditional Maori greeting, by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as they attend the Auckland Anzac Day civic service at the Auckland War Memorial Museum on April 25, 2019, in Auckland, New Zealand .
Mark Tantrum/The New Zealand Government via Getty Images
“Since its inception, I have believed in the power of Earthshot to encourage and spread not only the innovation we so desperately need, but also optimism. The solutions are within reach if we invest in them, support them and accelerate them globally,” Ardern added.
William, who launched the Global Environmental Initiative in 2020 after being inspired by US President John F. Kennedy’s “Moonshot” speech in 1962, which encouraged Americans to support lunar exploration, said it was a honor to welcome Ardern to the team.
“His lifelong commitment to supporting sustainable and environmental solutions, along with his experience as Prime Minister of New Zealand, will bring a rich infusion of new ideas to our mission,” said William, 40.
“Four years ago, before the Earthshot Prize even had a name, Jacinda was one of the first people I spoke to, and her encouragement and guidance was crucial to the initial success of the Prize. “, he added. “I am extremely grateful to her for joining us as she takes the next steps in her career.”
Other directors include former United Nations climate chief Christina Figueres and Jason Knauf, former communications secretary to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and then William and Kate Middleton.
As Insider previously reported, Texas-born Knauf has emerged as a central figure in some of the royal family’s recent controversies, including her involvement in Meghan’s lawsuit against British tabloids for publishing a private letter that she wrote to her father.
Meghan won the initial trial in February 2021 and the ensuing appeal in December 2021.
Ardern’s new role comes after she walks away from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Ardern’s team with William comes after she apparently distanced herself from Harry and Meghan following the release of their Netflix docuseries ‘Live to Lead’, released in December 2022.
The former prime minister, along with seven other high-profile campaigners such as the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Gloria Steinem, starred in the Harry and Meghan-produced series, according to Netflix Tudum.
But ahead of the docuseries’ release, Ardern released a statement clarifying that she was unaware of Harry and Meghan’s involvement in the show when her interview for the show was filmed.
According to The Telegraph, her office released a statement saying she was approached by the Nelson Mandela Project in 2019 to take part in the project.
“In early March 2019, the Prime Minister was approached by the Mandela Foundation to participate in a project to develop accessible resources on key leadership attributes for aspiring young leaders around the world, based on an interview with ‘one hour,’ the statement read.
“The interview was conducted on November 8, 2019,” he added. He went on to say that in March 2021, the Nelson Mandela Foundation contacted his office to say they had secured a deal with Netflix to air the interview in a docuseries, but had no idea it would be featured. or produced by Harry and Meghan. until 2022, more than two years after Ardern’s original interview.
“All communications have been with the foundation (there has been no communication with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex regarding the project),” the statement concluded.
Ardern’s statement came after Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries about their romance and experience in the royal family was released in December 2022. Several surprising moments occurred during the six-part series, including including Harry’s claim that William yelled at him during a Royal Family crisis meeting. in 2020.
Representatives for Jacinda Ardern and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
