Rose Hanbury is royally frustrated with resurfaced rumors that she had an affair with Prince William.
“I know people who know the Marchioness of Cholmondeley very, very well, and she absolutely was not having an affair with the Prince of Wales,” royal expert and Editor-in-Chief of True Royalty TV Nick Bullen exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, March 19. “Even when those rumors broke a few years ago, she was very upset by them then. She’s still very upset by them now.”
Rumors of an affair between William, 41, and Hanbury, 40, first surfaced in 2019 when multiple outlets reported that William’s wife, Kate Middleton, had a falling out with longtime friend Hanbury over the alleged infidelity. (Hanbury, a former model who is married to David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, has had royal connections for years, and attended William and Kate’s 2011 wedding as well as Prince Phillip‘s 2021 memorial service.)
Kensington Palace never commented on the affair speculation, and the rumors died down. That is, until recently, when conspiracy theories about Kate’s whereabouts breathed new life into the alleged scandal.
Stephen Colbert even repeated the theory that Kate’s recent months-long hiatus from public life — which Kensington Palace announced in January, citing a “planned” abdominal procedure — is due to trouble in her marriage.
“I think we all know who the alleged other woman is, say it with me, The Marchioness of Cholmondeley,” Colbert, 59, said during an episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert earlier this month.
Bullen told Us that the lack of information the palace has provided about Kate’s surgery has fueled the rumor mill.
“Something the royal family could possibly learn from [this] is that [with] these vacuums that are created, other people can be collateral damage,” he said. “Perhaps they need to think about that collateral damage.”
Bullen called the affair rumors “rubbish,” pointing out that infidelity “goes against everything” that William stands for given his experience watching his father and mother, King Charles III and the late Princess Diana, conduct talked-about affairs during their marriage.
“He saw the damage that affairs can cause,” Bullen said. “What I’m told [is], it’s just not in his psyche.”
Despite rumors that their marriage is on the rocks — and other wild theories about the princess’ well-being — William and Kate, 42, were seen enjoying an outing at the Windsor Farm Shop on Saturday, March 16. In photos obtained by TMZ, Kate smiled as she strolled alongside William, with whom she shares Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
While the footage of Kate looking happy and healthy assuaged some people’s concerns, others speculated that the woman in the video was not Kate.
“That ain’t Kate …,” Andy Cohen posted via X on Monday, March 18, in response to the clip.
Bullen, however, told Us that the video is “definitely” authentic.
“I’ve been to that farm shop, it’s very close to the cottage,” he said, referencing Kate and William’s home, Adelaide Cottage. “It was definitely her.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
