Prince William and Kate Middleton appointed a former BBC broadcaster as the new director for their Royal Foundation. Zeinab Badawi, 61, will join the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's team after the resignation of Simon Case, the foundation's trustee.

Case was also Prince William's right hand but he was temporarily reassigned to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's team to help with the government's COVID-19 response. His impressive work prompted the prime minister to offer Case the Cabinet Secretary post and the Head of the Home Civil Service. 

Badawi will take over in leading the Royal Foundation's COVID-19 Response Fund, which was launched in July. The initiative tackles various projects for frontliners and emergency workers, grief trauma recovery at hospice centers, and early years support for new moms. 

The new Royal Foundation director was frequently in Britain's top 100 list of most influential members of the Black community. An Oxford University graduate of Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Badawi is also studied Middle East History and Anthropology. 

The journalist built her career first as a morning news presenter for ITV before joining BBC News in the late 1990s. She will be expected to work alongside Jason Knauf, the chief executive of the Royal Foundation. 

Prior to the announcement, Kate met with Badawi at Kensington Palace Tuesday amid a flurry of other meetings. The Duchess of Cambridge spent the afternoon with the new director after meeting some mothers at the Battersea Park to discuss how they are doing in the new normal.

Kate also had video calls with the head of Eagle Rock Entertainment, Alice Webb, and members of the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. According to Hello, Webb is also a trustee of the Royal Foundation. Speculations are that the Duchess of Cambridge is hatching another initiative with Badawi, Webb and the Anna Freud charity. 

Prince William set up the Royal Foundation in 2009 with Prince Harry. Two years later, Kate joined the team when she married the Duke of Cambridge. Meghan Markle also became a part of the foundation after she married Prince Harry and became the Duchess of Sussex in 2018.

But, the following year, Harry and Meghan decided to part ways with William and Kate to form their own foundation. The Sussexes will still launch their new charity following their step back as working royals. 

Meanwhile, Prince William and Kate's Royal Foundation has risen to become a stable philanthropic platform that also focuses on conservation and wildlife, the youth sector and mental health.