Celebrity chef José Andrés, a friend of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, said he was “thrilled” to join Prince William’s Earthshot Prize board to help choose this year’s award winners.
Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen (an organization that provides global food relief), first worked with William’s eco initiative in 2023 where he hosted a panel discussion at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in New York.
Now, he has taken on a more formal role with the charity, which will see him play an active role in selecting the finalists who will receive five grants of more than one million dollars each to expand projects and products that repair, protect and preserve. environment.
Eric Charbonneau/Archewell Foundation via Getty Images/Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images/Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for The New York Times
“I’m excited to join the Earthshot Prize Board to help showcase the changemakers who are pushing the boundaries of innovation and ingenuity around the world,” he said in a statement.
“In good and difficult times, I have seen the power of food to heal and unite communities. Food is the best way to solve some of the most pressing challenges on the planet, and I believe that we must transform our food system. to be more sustainable and fair.
“There is so much we can do to inspire the world to see food as a powerful tool for creativity and change, and Earthshot solutions are at the forefront of this movement.”
News that Andrés has formalized his relationship with William’s Earthshot Prize has predictably raised tensions between the princes.
Since 2020, the long-standing dispute between the brothers has been confirmed by Harry in interviews and media projects, most clearly in his memoirs, spare. When published in January 2023, Harry confirmed that he and William are not currently on speaking terms.
In August 2024, the two brothers reportedly attended a memorial service for their late uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, who married Princess Diana’s older sister, Lady Jane Spencer.
British news reports covering the memorial said that while attendees saw William and Harry at the Norfolk church where they were held, they did not appear to interact with each other.
A theme of the siblings’ relationship that Harry covers in his memoirs is the alleged jealousy between them, which he usually claims is on William’s side.
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Andrés is not the first global figure with ties to Harry and Meghan to join the Earthshot Prize community. In 2023, it was announced that the former prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, had joined the prize as a trustee.
Ardern met Harry and Meghan during the couple’s 2018 tour of the South Pacific and has reportedly struck up a friendship with them. In 2019, Meghan named the prime minister as one of Britain’s “forces of change”. Vogue guest editing.
José Andrés World Community Kitchen is one of the organizations that Harry and Meghan have worked with through the Archewell Foundation since their separation from the monarchy.
In 2020, he contributed to helping the organization build and operate community relief centers around the world. In 2023, Meghan also gave Andrés a recipe to be included in the project’s first cookbook entitled: The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope.
In the pair’s 2020-2022 Archewell Impact Report, Andrés was quoted as giving a glowing endorsement.
“Harry and Meghan, my dear friends, you bring hope to every community you touch, always with a smile, always with empathy and through our partnership with World Central Kitchen, sometimes a hot plate showing people in need. we care, ” he said.
The next section also quotes him as saying: “Meghan and Harry are turning compassion into boots through the Archewell Foundation. In a world where everyone has an opinion about people they don’t know, the Duke and Duchess have compassion for people they know. They don’t just think about the struggle.
Newsweek reached out to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s representatives via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is NewsweekRoyal correspondent, based in London. You can find people on X (formerly Twitter) on @jrcrawfordsmith and read the story in NewsweekThe Royals Facebook page.
Do you have questions about King Charles III and Queen Camilla, William and Princess Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their families that you would like answered by an experienced royal reporter? Email royals@newsweek.com. We would love to hear from you.
