The British royal family has been making headlines yet again, but this time it’s not about any of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell revelations. Instead, the spotlight has shifted to Prince William and rumors of an alleged affair with a former close friend of Kate Middleton.
The rumors, which first spread in 2019, resurfaced recently when comedian Stephen Colbert devoted a significant portion of his monologue on The Late Show to poking fun at the situation.
With his trademark wit, Colbert speculated about Kate’s absence from public events and the possibility that it might be linked to William’s supposed infidelity.
“As we were talking about this show yesterday, the kingdom has been all fluttered by the seeming disappearance of Kate Middleton. Well now, internet sleuths are guessing that Kate’s absence may be related to her husband’s and the future king of England William having an affair.”
At the center of the controversy is Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, who has longstanding ties to the royal family. Rose’s grandmother served as a bridesmaid at Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding, and her son recently acted as one of the Pages of Honour at King Charles’s coronation.
Also, Rose Hanbury and her husband, David Cholmondeley, were once neighbors of William and Kate in Norfolk, England. In an interview with English Home back in 2023, the Marchioness mentioned that the Palladian estate she calls home still stands in all its grandeur due to the former occupant’s “incredible care”.
“It’s a Palladian house built in the 1720s for Britain’s first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole, who employed the very best architects, decorators and designers of the day. Colen Campbell was the architect and William Kent designed the interiors.”
While the palace has remained tight-lipped about the allegations, royal experts like Omid Scobie have weighed in on the matter. When speaking to ET, Scobie acknowledged the potential damage such rumors could have on William’s reputation but expressed doubt about their veracity, citing a lack of concrete evidence.
“If a rumor’s left to kind of do its own thing it can run 20 laps around the world before you even think about what, how you want to kind of address it. They never addressed it, so those rumors will never go away…For legal reasons there are so many things that one can’t go into but I thought it was really important, even if a rumor is a rumor. And I really don’t see proof that there is more to this than just a tittle-tattle, you know.”
The situation has reignited discussions about the royal family’s approach to handling controversies and speculation. Some argue that the palace’s perceived willingness to deflect attention onto Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure from royal life may have been an attempt to quell the Rose Hanbury rumors, albeit at the expense of further straining relations with the Sussexes.
As the rumor mill continues to churn, the public’s fascination with the personal lives of the royals shows no signs of waning. Whether the allegations hold any truth remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the scrutiny and intrigue surrounding the British monarchy has captivated audiences worldwide.
