Liza Ravenscroft: Who is Prince William's new 'bulletproof' crisis manager?

Is everything alright with Prince William? The Prince of Wales sparked a flurry of news reports this weekend after he took the unusual step of hiring a crisis management expert to join his communications team.

Liza Ravenscroft, a senior director at global communications firm Edelman, has been appointed to Kensington Palace’s press team to work alongside the Prince of Wales.

According to Ravenscroft’s own professional biography, she works “arm in arm with big names facing their toughest times,” helping clients “get past an issue as quickly as possible with minimum dents.” The crisis management expert has also been described as “bulletproof sunshine” by a previous boss.

Before Edelman, Ravenscroft worked as Senior Director of Communications for Marriott, the multinational hotel company, and British Airways as Head of Global Media Relations.

She has worked specifically in crisis management for over five years, offering support for leaders during their “worst ever days in the office.”

She also has a unique insight into both sides of a crisis: prior to working in communications, Ravenscroft was a journalist herself, reporting for the likes of CBS Interactive in Brazil, France24, and BBC Radio 5 Live. She has a postgraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism from City and can speak both French and Portuguese.

On her LinkedIn, she describes her experience working at her former companies: “It's often front page stuff: from boycott campaigns to sexual allegations to serious safety issues, geopolitical and ethical risks, I'm all about human-led response direct to the audiences which matter.”

Ravenscroft’s appointment has led to questions over Prince William’s need for a crisis expert. Admittedly, the Royal Family have endured a fair few crises in recent years, including Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s relationship with prolific paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, and Prince Harry’s explosive tell-all memoir. However, Prince William’s nose has stayed clean throughout the various scandals.

Reports have now suggested that Kensington Palace will not be using Ravenscroft’s appointment to field crisis issues, explaining that she will be in a “non-crisis role” where she will work on day-to-day press interactions.

Ravenscroft is thought to have been tipped for the role by Julian Payne, the CEO of Edelman who previously worked as a communications secretary to Charles and Camilla.