Prince William recently bestowed an honor upon Jason Knauf, who previously accused Meghan Markle of bullying palace staff.
Knauf was granted the prestigious title of Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (RVO) during a ceremony held at Windsor Castle on May 10th, which was officiated by the Prince of Wales himself.
This move by the royal family has sparked speculation about their support for Knauf's claims against the Duchess of Sussex.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that honors within the RVO are the King's gift and are bestowed independently of Downing Street.
Meghan and Harry's critics believe that the monarch exposed his daughter-in-law's bullying of palace staff by giving the nod to William's decision to honor Jason Knauf.
Jason Knauf is a former Kensington Palace communications aide who worked at shaping the media narrative surrounding Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during some of the most difficult years faced by the royal family in the past two decades.
He held a number of high-profile communications roles in London before joining the royal household, where he eventually became the right-hand man of the then-Cambridges, William and Kate, at Kensington Palace.
During his time with the royals, he published important press releases, including a November 2016 rebuke of racist reporting by the media about Meghan. Things appeared to sour in 2018 when it was later revealed that the aide had raised concerns about the duchess bullying staff members.
When William and Harry split their staff, Knauf stayed with the Cambridges, becoming an adviser before moving on to head their charitable foundation.
In 2021, Knauf found himself in the spotlight when he provided evidence to the British High Court regarding Meghan's privacy lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday newspaper, which had published extracts of a private letter written to her father in 2018.
Knauf's evidence caused embarrassment for Meghan, who made an apology for misleading the court over statements saying she had not collaborated with the authors of the Harry and Meghan biography Finding Freedom.
