James Holt worked for both Prince William and Prince Harry in Kensington Palace back in the day. At some point – circa 2017-18 – Holt became more of a staffer to Harry and Meghan, and he clearly took their side in all of the inter-office machinations against them. When the Sussexes left Salt Island in 2020, Holt quickly picked up and followed them to California, becoming one of a handful of “royal staff” to back the Sussexes even after the exit. Holt has been part of Archewell and their organization ever since, even stepping into the role as Executive Director of the Archewell Foundation. He also appeared in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan series. Well, now the Mail claims that Holt has possibly moved back to the UK. Holt is apparently also “liking” LinkedIn posts from Jason Knauf.
He is the royal aide who Prince Harry suggested was part of a Buckingham Palace plot to ‘gaslight’ and smear his wife by publicly accusing Meghan Markle of bullying Palace staff out of their jobs. But after the Duke of Sussex said he wanted reconciliation with his family, MailOnline can reveal that Harry and Meghan’s right-hand man James Holt has offered an olive branch to their apparent nemesis Jason Knauf.
Mr Holt, a British communications expert, has liked several Royal Family-related LinkedIn posts over the past week including praising Mr Knauf’s work with the Prince of Wales. He has also repeatedly celebrated the work of a senior aide to King Charles, Helen Cook, at a time when a deft diplomatic mission is needed to try to repair relations between the warring Windsors.
MailOnline understands Mr Holt may have recently moved back to the UK from California for family reasons – five years on from Megxit when he moved to North America with Meghan and Harry.
Jason Knauf, who is CEO of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, may have been surprised to see his Sussex counterpart saluting his work given what Meghan and Harry are said to think of him and his boss, the future king. Jason was once exceptionally close to the exiled couple. The New Zealander was one of just two people Harry told he was proposing to Meghan before they fell out over the Duchess’ alleged poor treatment of staff. He has been dubbed the ultimate ‘Sussex Survivor’ and he quit the royal household after accusing the Duchess of Sussex of mistreating two colleagues and undermining their confidence.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, has always denied the allegations of bullying, which she described as an orchestrated smear campaign against her. Mr Knauf, who made the claims and stands by them, took to LinkedIn to hail London Climate Action Week and trail how his boss Prince William, the future king, was bringing together ‘visionary leaders, thinkers, entrepreneurs, and investors to supercharge the rollout of solutions to our planet’s urgent challenges’.
James Holt was among those who ‘liked’ the post, which automatically shared it on his own feed. Days later James, Executive Director of The Archewell Foundation – the Sussexes’ charity – liked two posts by Helen King, assistant private secretary to Harry’s father King Charles III. He even ‘celebrated’ a post showing the monarch marking 25 years of the Royal Drawing School.
MailOnline has asked Mr Holt to comment. He declined, as did a spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
But a source close to Mr Holt said that the King’s aide Helen Cook is an old friend and colleague who worked with in Downing Street. With regard to Mr Knauf, James was one of the Royal Foundation team that helped design Earthshot and he was being supportive of a good cause.
I’m not prepared to declare that there’s a snake in the grass, but if Holt really has returned to the UK, then it’s possible that he’s looking up old associates and perhaps looking for a new job. I feel like the Sussexes are finally in a place, this year, where they’re really putting together a team for all of their future endeavors, and maybe Holt isn’t part of that team? That’s just it though – if Holt had really left Archewell, THAT would be the gossip, that the Sussexes “lost” one of their most loyal staffers. I wonder if Holt is still ED of Archewell but he’s just telecommuting because he needs to be in the UK right now. And the LinkedIn stuff… I don’t know. I think it’s bad form, if only because the Mail gleefully reminded everyone of Jason Knauf’s sleaziness towards Meghan.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Netflix.
