Sarah Rose, a veteran of British television, has been appointed chief executive of The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales and will take up the role in February, the foundation said Wednesday.
Rose succeeds Amanda Berry CBE, who will move into a newly created role as Global Partnerships Ambassador. The foundation said Rose will work on the couple’s priority programmes, including the Prince of Wales’s Homewards campaign to tackle homelessness, the Princess of Wales’s Centre for Early Childhood, United for Wildlife and the foundation’s Community Impact work.
William and Catherine said they were "looking forward to welcoming Sarah to The Royal Foundation and to working with her on some of the issues which are closest to our hearts" and expressed gratitude to Berry for her "exceptional leadership" over the past three years. Rose said she was "honoured to be joining The Royal Foundation" and looked forward to supporting the foundation’s work to "tackle some of society's most urgent challenges."
Simon Patterson, chair of The Royal Foundation, described Rose as having a "wealth of leadership experience, both commercial and public service," and said she embodied the foundation’s "core values of optimism and creativity." He also thanked Berry for her leadership and said he welcomed her continued involvement in her new ambassadorial role.
Rose’s career spans more than three decades in British broadcasting. According to her LinkedIn profile and the foundation’s announcement, she spent five years at Paramount as President of Channel 5 and UK Regional Lead, where she oversaw programming including documentaries and factual series. She previously spent 14 years at Channel 4 in roles that included head of video-on-demand and channel development and later chief consumer and strategy officer, and she spent four years in management at ITV.
The appointment comes amid a period of staffing changes across royal communications teams. Earlier this year the Duke and Duchess of Sussex appointed a new director of communications. Emily Robinson, who had led publicity for Netflix’s drama The Crown from its third through sixth seasons, left Netflix in April 2024 after overseeing global publicity for several high-profile storylines.
The Royal Foundation has acted as the principal vehicle for many of the Waleses’ charitable initiatives since it was restructured following Prince William and Catherine’s marriage. The organisation runs programmes that bring together charities, government partners and community organisations to address homelessness, early childhood development, wildlife trafficking and other social causes. Rose’s brief will include efforts to expand and scale existing programmes and to develop new partnerships internationally.
The leadership change was announced as the Prince and Princess of Wales continue a programme of public engagements. On Tuesday, William and Catherine attended an event marking the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death at a meeting of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes in Sunningdale, where William reflected on the late monarch’s long association with the WI and shared family anecdotes. The prince said he could not "quite believe it has been three years already," and the couple spoke informally with members about community activities, early childhood work and their family life.
Foundation officials said Rose will begin in February and will initially concentrate on consolidating the foundation’s existing strands of work while supporting efforts to grow its reach and impact. Berry will remain closely involved with international partners in her new ambassadorial role as the foundation seeks to broaden collaboration on its major campaigns.
The foundation did not disclose financial terms of the appointment. It said more details about Rose’s priorities and the organisation’s plans for the coming year would be announced in due course.