The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have appointed an influential media executive as the first trustee of their Sussex Royal Foundation.

Karen Blackett was listed as a director of Harry and Meghan’s new charitable body at Companies House on Thursday.

The royals set up their own foundation earlier this year after splitting from their joint charity with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Karen Blackett
Karen Blackett speaking at the Huxley Summit in 2016 (Frantzesco Kangaris/PA)

It followed reports of a rift, first between Kate and Meghan, then between future king William and his younger brother Harry.

Sources at the time denied there was a feud, saying it was “largely about preparing both couples for their future roles, which are obviously on divergent tracks”.

Ms Blackett is chairwoman of media agency MediaCom UK and country manager of marketing and communications firm WPP.

She was named number one in the 2015 Powerlist of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the UK.

Royal Foundation Forum
Harry, Meghan, William and Kate – before the split – during the first and so far only Royal Foundation Forum in 2018 (Chris Jackson/PA)

The first businesswoman to top the list, she was also awarded an OBE for services to the media industry in 2014.

Ms Blackett, 48,  has been at MediaCom for more than 20 years, becoming chief executive in 2011 and chairwoman in 2016.

She was told as a teenager that her only career choices were to be a nurse or a teacher.

Ms Blackett wrote in The Guardian in 2014 on how role models can help the business world reflect the reality of social diversity, saying: “Young minorities usually have a limited number of role models, and so choose their life paths from a narrow palette of options.”

She added:  “Publications such as the power list address the first of these problems.

“The role models they showcase allow the next generation to know that anything should be possible.

“I am a single mother to a five-year-old boy and I want my son to truly know that he can be whatever he chooses to be, without any barriers related to his skin colour.”

In 2012, she launched an apprenticeship scheme for 18-24 year-olds at MediaCom with the National Apprenticeship Service.

As well as roles as chancellor of Portsmouth University and on the board at Creative England, on her Twitter bio she lists herself as an “exhausted Mum”.

She was a guest editor of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour in 2017.

Investiture at the palace
Karen Blackett being given her OBE by the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Ms Blackett says on MediaCom’s website: “My role is to connect people from different walks of life to make magic happen. ”

In an interview with Marie Claire in 2015, she was described as a “game-changer”.

Her approach to working mothers is likely to appeal to Meghan, mother of three-month-old baby Archie.

“I create a culture where you’re allowed to bring yourself to work,” Ms Blackett said, stressing the importance of family-based initiatives.

“I want to recognise if some of our female talent is struggling with blending their work and home lives.”

William and Kate’s foundation has formally recorded a change of its name at Companies House, which looks set to remove Sussex from the title, with the document currently being processed.