Jose Andres joined Earthshot’s board, which is apparently ‘humiliating’ for the Sussexes

Jose Andres is a chef and a humanitarian. He operates World Central Kitchen, where chefs go into warzones and natural disaster areas to provide meals to anyone and everyone. WCK has been in Haiti, Ukraine, Puerto Rico, Turkey and disaster areas within the US as well. Andres is regularly featured in Western media as an all-around great guy doing great work. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are particularly supportive of Andres and WCK, and Andres has said many supportive and lovely things about Harry and Meghan. Well, Andres has now joined the board of Earthshot, Prince William’s sad busywork scheme. This is now being called “humiliating” for… Harry and Meghan. Don’t you get it, William lives inside his own ass and he only understands the world through the prism of hatred and jealousy for his brother. You can’t tell me that William didn’t seek out Andres because Andres is close to the Sussexes. And isn’t that sad? Isn’t that humiliating for William? Still, the Daily Beast’s Royalist dutifully acted as stenographer to Kensington Palace’s talking points:

Picking a side in a divorce is always uncomfortable. Some people, of course, manage to stay friends with both parties. Now José Andrés is having a go at being allied with both Prince Harry and Prince William.For the legendary chef and founder of humanitarian food program World Central Kitchen (WCK) has joined the board of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize—despite having long been one of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s most prestigious associates.

His organisation has previously received funding from Archewell running to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the Sussexes have described him as a “longtime friend and partner.” He has gushingly described them in return as “dear friends” who “bring hope to each and every community you touch, always with a smile, always with empathy.”

Andrés, who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year, [said] in a statement on the Earthshot website: “I am thrilled to join the Earthshot Prize Council to help showcase the changemakers pushing the boundaries of innovation and ingenuity around the world. 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.”

A British reputation management consultant who has previously worked with both William and Harry and the wider royal family told The Daily Beast: “José Andrés is a uniquely respected figure, and he was very much promoted by the Sussexes over the Covid years. The fact that William can just poach him for Earthshot is not just humiliating for Harry and Meghan, it is a very graphic illustration of the power differential between William and Harry. Faced with a choice, when it comes to advancing the goals of his organisation, Andrés has chosen to be allied with the future king of England, and Harry and Meghan will have to either accept it or cut ties with him themselves.”

[From The Daily Beast]

There are some royal stories which genuinely turn my stomach, and this is one of them. For William to so clearly go out of his way to “poach” Andres and then turn around and try to claim that the poach is “humiliating” for the Sussexes?? For William the charisma-vacuum to have so little going on that he stalks the people associated with Harry and Meghan? Besides which, William is showing his hand here, and showing that it’s all a game of one-upmanship with his brother. Harry and Meghan supported Andres and WCK because they believe in the work and they support Andres’ mission. The Sussexes genuinely care about getting food to people in terrible conditions. They care about the issue. But to William, it’s just moving chess pieces against the brother he’s insanely jealous of.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Andres’ IG.