The British royal family has dominated the headlines in 2024, and the biggest story, of course, has been the weeks of conspiracy theories – rumours on social media about the absence of Catherine, Princess of Wales, from public life amid the health crisis. If you’ve been paying attention to the twists and turns of this months-long saga, you may have come across the name Rose Hanbury, or, as she is more correctly known, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley.
Since 2019, gossip blogs and royal social media have been rife with rumours of an alleged affair between the Marchioness and Prince William, despite lawyers for both sides vehemently denying there is any truth to the rumours. The controversy over Catherine’s whereabouts earlier this year pushed the speculation beyond the UK and into the mainstream news, particularly after US comedian Stephen Colbert joked about the alleged affair between William and Rose on his show on 12 March. The joke led to Rose breaking her five-year silence with her first public statement denying the rumours, through her lawyers, and a legal warning sent to CBS over Colbert’s “royal mistress” comments.
As royal scandals go, the Rose-William story is perhaps not up there with the more “sordid” (and true) Windsor stories of a previous generation, such as King Charles III’s infamous “tampon” or Sarah Ferguson’s “toe-kissing.” But if you start digging a little deeper and trying to get information and more stories about these recent royal rumours – that is, if you start looking for information about the Marchioness of Cholmondeley’s connections to the House of Windsor – you quickly run into a problem. The stories that have covered Rose’s life for the past five years have disappeared from the British media. And to be clear, it’s not just the allegations of an “aristocratic extramarital affair” that are at issue, but also the hints of obvious tension between Rose and Catherine, Princess of Wales, who were supposed to be friends.
The main stories about Rose and the future king and queen now lead to inaccessible pages or redirect to the host site’s homepage. Other stories remain online, but were updated after publication to remove details about the “feud” or other “rumors” about Rose, William, and Catherine, but many are still floating around the internet—the mysterious people responsible for deleting the stories didn’t do a very good job of tidying up. Links to these disappeared stories still exist in each outlet’s royal coverage from the period and, in many cases, on those outlets’ official social media accounts.
In total, Vulture’s investigation found 21 removed stories and six articles edited after publication to remove information, published between 2019 and 2024. All of the outlets in question are based in the UK.
What happened?
Gossip mongers have always believed that the Palace was pulling strings behind the scenes, relying on the media to suppress news or speculation about the alleged affair — to protect the future king. There were even rumors on social media — entirely unfounded — of a “media gag” or “super injunction” on stories about William and Rose. According to an April 2019 Daily Beast article, the Crown attorneys wrote forcefully to at least one media outlet, warning them against covering rumors about the affair not only because they were “false and deeply damaging,” but because they clearly violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, they argued.
But there have been no reports of the Palace asking media outlets to remove articles or parts of articles, and there have certainly been no statements from the British media – or notices to readers – explaining why they have decided to remove paragraphs or even entire stories. Legal representatives for both the royal family and the Marchioness of Cholmondeley have vigorously denied all rumours of an alleged affair between William and Rose, but have refused to provide any specific official statements about removing all or part of the information from media reports about it. Meanwhile
, amid the rumours, Rose’s public profile continues to rise. Her friendship with Catherine has been the subject of many colourful stories over the past two years, and more and more Rose has become the subject of stories in the British media. Her presence at events, her clothes, the fact that she sent a “fan” – Prince William – a thank-you note in response to a birthday card – have all been deemed newsworthy for some reason. And then there is the endlessly asked question: “Who is Rose Hanbury?” and the articles that answer it.
To answer questions about the current press coverage of the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, and the many stories that have disappeared, we need to start at the beginning: with her days as a “stunningly sexy” model and “total heartbreaker” society ingénue. So here’s how the media has covered Rose over the years – in many ways more interesting and instructive than the gossip itself.
Socialite lover and mistress of the estate
17 May 2002: Sarah Rose Hanbury’s social status is confirmed by what appears to be the first media article to mention her name: an Evening Standard article entitled “Meet London’s new party animals”. The article describes Rose and her older sister Marina as “incredibly beautiful”, but the newspaper incorrectly identifies them both as teenagers (Rose is 18 and Marina is 20 at the time of publication).
2002: Rose becomes a fixture on London’s high society party circuit, regularly appearing in Getty and Shutterstock photographs taken at exclusive events. Around this time, Rose signs with the prestigious modelling agency Storm Management and begins working as a professional model.
2004: Rose is regularly featured in UK society columns and in the media covering high-profile parties and events. She is often photographed with celebrities and/or the well-connected, including being reported to be spending time with her friend Laura Parker Bowles, daughter of the future Queen Camilla, in an Evening Standard social column published on 24 June 2004. Meanwhile, Rose and her sister Marina, wearing matching pink bikinis, pose for a photograph with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Villa Cetinale in Tuscany, Italy.
16 August 2006: The Daily Mail reports that Rose, 22, is “dating” David Rocksavage, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, 46. The director, who holds the ceremonial position of Lord Great Chamberlain, is described as a “flamboyant socialite” and “one of England’s most eligible bachelors”. According to the tabloid, after years of singledom, the marquess wants to marry and “produce an heir to his £60million fortune“.
July 10, 2008: Gossip writer Taki Theodoracopoulos (a family friend of the Hanburys who regularly features Rose and Marina in his Spectator column) hints to the Daily Mail that the model could soon become a marchioness: “Why don’t they get married? He’s a nice guy and wants to get married. Plus she likes him, and not just because he’s a marquess.“
June 2009: On June 22, the Telegraph reports that David, then 48, is engaged to Rose, 25. The paper’s gossip column reports: “Rose is delighted to have succeeded where so many women have failed.” The following day, Rose’s mother, Emma Hanbury, told the Daily Mail that her daughter was pregnant with twins, and the impending parenthood couple were tying the knot. David and Rose will marry in a small civil ceremony at Chelsea Town Hall on June 24. Several articles reporting on the pregnancy and marriage noted that morning sickness had forced Rose to quit her job as Michael Gove’s political aide,the then shadow minister for children, schools and families.
October 2009: Richard Kay of the Daily Mail reports on October 7 that Rose has been in hospital since late September with pregnancy-related complications. Rose’s sister Marina tells Kay that her sister is “perfectly fine” but the babies are likely to be born earlier than expected. A week later, on October 14, Kay reports that Rose gave birth to twin boys on October 12. This is a big deal because David now has an heir (Alexander Hugh George Cholmondeley, Earl of Rocksavage) and a spare (Lord Oliver Timothy). The family moves to Houghton Hall, the Cholmondeley estate in Norfolk.
November 8, 2009: In an article about “the problems of modern aristocrats“, the Sunday Telegraph reports that Rose and David have used an unusual method to choose which of their twin sons will succeed his father as the next Marquess of Cholmondeley. Because the babies were born by Caesarean section, there was no way to tell which was the firstborn, so the proud parents decided that the heaviest-born twin would be the heir, according to the Sunday Telegraph. The article is headlined “For Chumley, Being Plump Pays.“
February 26, 2010: The Evening Standard publishes a more than a little biting gossip about Rose and Marina, highlighting the fact that both sisters are romantically linked to titled men more than 20 years their senior. At the time, Marina, 27, was dating her future husband Edward “Ned” Lambton, the 48-year-old Earl of Durham. “They became wealthy aristocrats who would have made Jane Austen’s heart rejoice,” the paper writes, describing the Hanbury sisters’ social trajectory, while also congratulating Rose once again on marrying “the greatest catch on earth.” An unnamed friend describes the marchioness as “incredibly sweet… gentle, always caring for people with problems and terribly sweet.“
2012: Rose is regularly photographed at exclusive, glamorous events across the UK. Several times, her appearances at these high-profile parties have appeared in society bible Tatler magazine.
April 22, 2013: The Cholmondeleys feature in a Vanity Fair article and accompanying photo essay on Houghton Hall and an art exhibition running from May to November.
May 2013: Tatler publishes a list of “society’s finest busts,” which includes Rose. Her bust is called “majestic”.
12 September 2014: To mark William and Catherine’s planned move permanently to their Norfolk country home, Anmer Hall, following the birth of their second child, the Daily Mail runs an article featuring the phrase “Turnip Toffs” used to describe other families living in the posh area where Kate and William have settled, which includes Houghton Hall, just five miles from the royal residence. Why turnips? Because the area of the UK is known for its fertile vegetable fields. And “toff” is slightly offensive British slang for a wealthy, upper-class person.
April 2016: Rose appears in an issue of W magazine titled “10 Bohemians Who Live Beautifully and Make It Easy“. Along with a short caption, there is a photograph of Rose pregnant with her daughter Iris (technically Lady Iris Marina Aline Cholmondeley, born on 8 March). “I’m not one to be held back by convention,” Rose says in the text. “I’d much rather be walking around the house in a flowy Victorian nightdress or tunic and barefoot than in a cocktail dress and high heels.“
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June 22, 2016: William and Catherine attend an official fundraiser at Houghton Hall to raise money for East Anglia Children’s Hospices, a cause Rose and Catherine support as patrons. The two women are pictured kissing each other on the cheek as a greeting and chatting amiably. The fundraiser is covered by many media outlets (in the US and UK).
23 June 2016: The day after the event, the Daily Mail publishes a story pitting the two women against each other: “Who’s the queen bee of the Toff Turnip? They’re neighbours in the Norfolk countryside who have SO much in common. But, sorry Kate, the super-glamorous Marchioness of Cholmondeley lives an even more glamorous life.” The story explores the many similarities in the lives of both women, and appears to be the first media report to hint at a possible rivalry between Catherine and Rose, with the writer specifically noting that the Marchioness has a “bombshell” figure with “ample cleavage that rather outshines sporty Kate.“
10 July 2017: The Daily Mail reports that David and Rose’s daughter, Iris, was christened on 8 July in a ceremony at which supermodel Kate Moss – a longtime friend of the Marchioness’s from her modelling days – was named as the baby’s godmother.
12 July 2017: The Cholmondeleys attend an official state banquet at Buckingham Palace for King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain. Rose sits next to Prince Harry. The Mirror calls her Catherine’s “glam friend” and “pal”, while Hello! magazine describes her as Kate’s “close friend”.
14 May 2018: Rose stars in a video for British fashion brand Mulberry, filmed at Houghton Hall to celebrate the Damien Hirst exhibition at the Chumley estate.
February 2019: Rose opens up about her life at Houghton Hall in the only interview she has ever given: a Q&A for the hyper-specific magazine The English Home, with a publication date listed on its website as 17 March 2024. “I don’t know how many rooms we have,” Rose says in the interview, adding: “It took me a while to get used to it and feel at home.”
Rumors and Rural Rivals
15 March 2019: In his gossip column Eden Confidential, Daily Mail reporter Richard Eden describes Rose as Catherine’s “country rival” and claims they are vying for the title of “queen bee” among the Toff’s turnips. He quotes an unnamed member of an “East Anglian aristocratic family” as saying: “It may sound odd, but Kate seems to see Rose as a rival.“
The story has since been deleted.
22 March 2019: The Sun’s Dan Wootton reports that the “horrible row” between Catherine and Rose (described as one of the future Queen’s “long-standing best friends”) has “stunned” royal insiders and “shocked” Norfolk neighbours. “They used to be close, but that’s not the case any more,” Wootton quotes a “source” as saying. “William wants to play peacemaker so the two couples can remain friends, given they live so close to each other and have so many mutual friends. But Kate has made it clear she no longer wants to see the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley and wants William to give them up, despite their social status.” (The article notes that Kensington Palace declined to comment.)
The story has since been deleted.
March 23, 2019: The Sun and Mail on Sunday publish articles not only reporting on the alleged tension between Catherine and Rose, but also revealing numerous similarities between the two women. “They must be very close, but there is tension between them,” a “source” tells the Sun. “Nobody understands how it all came to this.” The Mail on Sunday calls Rose a “frivolous, deceptive beauty” and heavily suggests that William may have once been in love with the former model, claiming that she “was at one stage named as a potential suitor for Prince William’s affections.” The article notes that “exactly when [Rose and William] first met – and whether they ever became close before [Will and Kate] moved to Norfolk – remains unclear.” The story ends on an ominous note: “If Kate tries to remove Rose, as is rumoured, it could prove quite a tedious and humiliating affair for everyone involved. The row that is alleged to have occurred must indeed have been serious.“
Both stories have since been deleted.
March 24, 2019: Mail reporters head to the home of Rose’s parents, Tim and Emma Hanbury, to investigate. “After being asked if her daughter had spoken about Prince William and Catherine, Mrs Hanbury glanced at her husband before replying: ‘Nothing to say about that.’ Mr Hanbury then intervened, saying: ‘No comment. No comment.‘” The same reporters try to speak to the Chumleys, but a member of their staff comes over the intercom to say the couple are unavailable. “When asked if the couple were aware of the allegations published in The Sun, the staffer replied: ‘We are fully aware,’” the report said. (Kensington Palace declined to comment for this story, and the Chumleys were unavailable for comment, the Mail on Sunday reports.)
The story has since been deleted.
24 March 2019: Daily Mail columnist Richard Kay tries to set the record straight, but does so in a way that has raised even more questions about what exactly is going on in Norfolk. “I’m told that the rumours of a row between these two attractive young women are false. I can also reveal that both parties have considered legal action but, as no evidence has been provided in any of the reports as to what the so-called dispute is about, they have decided to ignore it,” he writes. Legal action? Over rumours that the two women are quarrelling? Kay writes that the gossip “began circulating at posh dinner parties last year” and says it has “malicious undertones” and that the rumours are starting to “hurt” Catherine. Kay also claims that William and Catherine are not close friends with the Cholmondeleys and have only visited each other three times, citing a “source close to Rose” who said: “It’s not even remotely close.“
March 25, 2019: The “rural rivalry” story is picked up by royal reporters at two US publications: Vanity Fair and the Daily Beast. Both reporters point out how odd the friendship breakdown is being covered in the British media. The Daily Beast headlines its article “Kate Middleton’s Alleged Feud With Former Model Is the Weirdest Royal Story of the Year” and notes how odd it is that Catherine and Rose were allegedly considering legal action over the story of their feud, when Catherine seemed perfectly fine with all the stories about her alleged rivalry with Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex. Vanity Fair wonders why so much attention is being paid to this situation, given that no one can even explain why Catherine and Rose are fighting.
26 March 2019: The Express, a publication that has largely rewritten reports from the Sun and the Daily Mail so far, does some of its own reporting and is told by a Kensington Palace spokesman that there has been a “fallout”. Oddly, another Express story about the Catherine and Rose rumours, “Kate Middleton’s ENEMY: Everything you need to know about model Rose Hanbury – and THAT ‘row‘”, published on the same day by the same writer, was eventually removed from the internet.
In its gossip section, the Evening Standard newspaper publishes an explanation from the Marchioness of Cholmondeley and the supposed ongoing situation between her and Catherine. The (rather innocuous) article outlines the information published by the tabloids and notes that the two women are considering legal action.
The second Express article and the Evening Standard article have since been removed.
March 26-27, 2019: Gossip websites Lainey Gossip and Celebitchy publish articles suggesting that the information in the British media actually hints at an affair. Both articles cite a quickly deleted tweet from The Times restaurant critic Giles Coren on March 26, in which he claims that “everyone” knows about the affair between the prince and marchioness. (In a column published much later, on January 3, 2022, Coren claimed he was drunk and “joking” when he tweeted the message.)
The tweet is often referred to as “patient zero” for the affair rumours, particularly by representatives of the people they have affected. When contacted for comment, Harbottle & Lewis, the royal family’s lawyers, referred to Coren’s tweet and a quote from his column refuting it, saying the affair rumours were “false and of entirely scurrilous and malicious origin” and had “no basis in fact”. “When asked, we made it clear that we did not understand how the re-publication of unfounded and harmful gossip could amount to responsible journalism,” a spokesperson said.
27 March 2019: The Express publishes a gossip piece about even more women Catherine has supposedly removed from her and William’s circle, titled “Kate Middleton ‘phased out’ Rose Hanbury: Meet the other women who have angered the Duchess“. It’s quite a short list! Only two people are named: Isabella Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe and Carly Massey-Birch, both of whom, coincidentally, have both been romantically linked to William in the press at some point.
The story has since been deleted.
28 March 2019: Tatler republishes photos of Rose modelling for the magazine, taken in 2003.
28 March 2019: Weekly UK gossip newsletter Popbitch gets candid about the rumours: “Sometimes it can feel like you need a PhD in cryptography to make sense of tabloid reports about the royals. If you’ve been following the latest Kate Middleton news but can’t figure out what the ‘rural rivalry’ is, it’s Fleet Street’s way of hinting at the long-running rumour that Prince William has been caught having sex with family friend Rose Hanbury.“
March 30, 2019: The Daily Beast dives back into the news story: “Kate Middleton, Royal Enigma, Faces Her First Scandal.” Royal correspondent Tom Sykes writes that “William is thought to have enjoyed a flirtation with Rose while he and Kate took a break from their relationship” before they married. He doesn’t say outright that the current media furor could be linked to the recent affair, but notes that the lack of information about the feud creates “the sense that there was more to the story than the media was prepared to tell.”
March 30, 2019: The Express publishes gossip about the “Toffs” and how the feud has affected the close-knit circle of aristocrats. Reporter James Arthur claims the women had been “close for more than a decade” and “seemed set on a lifelong friendship” before Catherine “banished” Rose from their friend group “for reasons that have not yet become apparent“. William and Catherine may have “put some very well-mannered noses out of action” when they moved to the area and reportedly assumed they would lead the social scene. An unnamed source in Norfolk told The Express that when the grouse shooting season starts in August, “Rose may not want to be anywhere near Catherine. She’s a crack shot.“
April 2, 2019: The International Business Times (US) publishes “Princes William and Harry’s ‘chilly’ relationship over heir apparent, not Meghan Markle”. In a Substack post published on April 25, the author of the article clarifies that she is not a “journalist, reporter, royal insider or source” and should not be identified as such: “This is gossip. I don’t know the details.” At the same time, she says she is sticking to her topic and her theory that the current bad press about Meghan is a “smokescreen” to cover up William’s alleged affair and subsequent fallout with his brother.
The Express publishes, then deletes, a story that, while not critical of Catherine, is far harsher than most reporting on her: “Everything has changed for Kate Middleton after Rose Hanbury ‘feud’ and Meghan’s wedding.” Referring to recent coverage of Catherine’s desire to oust Rose from her and William’s group of friends, the article quotes Australian royal correspondent Danielle Elser as saying: “This picture of Kate is of a cunning woman who cruelly amputates friends when she decides they are persona non grata. This picture of the new Kate is a galaxy away from the carefully honed construct of gaudy perfection we’ve been fed for years.“
Notably, this now-deleted Express story is built on quotes from a column Elser wrote for news.com.au.The column is still online. The Express story has been removed.
April 4, 2019: US magazine In Touch Weekly publishes a “World Exclusive” article claiming William cheated on Catherine with Rose. It’s unclear if the story was ever published online. Lainey Gossip and Celebitchy were the first to quote it, and from there, the article is referenced by every media outlet covering the “scandal.” The article claims Catherine discovered William had cheated on her in 2018, when she was pregnant with her third child. It’s described as the future queen’s “worst nightmare.” According to the magazine, when Catherine first confronted her husband about the rumours, he “laughed it off.”
April 8, 2019: Citing a “Buckingham Palace source,” RadarOnline reports that Catherine has “banished” Rose because she is “extremely jealous” of the former model. “She’s been told that William has been a huge supporter of Rose for years – and has even told friends that he’s ‘attracted’ to her,” the report says. The insider claims that Rose’s “aristocratic background” makes her a “perfect match” for William – likely a subtle nod to Catherine’s middle-class background.
April 9, 2019: The Daily Beast publishes one of the most important source stories in the long-running saga of the alleged Rose Hanbury affair. Tom Sykes claims that “at least one UK publication has been issued legal warnings after publishing details of the William and Rose rumours.” He reports that the legal letters claim that publishing details of the alleged affair would not only be “false and deeply damaging,” but would also constitute “a breach of William’s privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.” Although Kensington Palace has declined to comment on the In Touch Weekly cover story, “courtiers” tell Sykes that all reports about the affair are “completely untrue and false.”
April 26, 2019: The Sun publishes a story entitled “ENEMIES: How old is Rose Hanbury and what is her connection to Prince William and Kate Middleton?” The story contains a few sentences about Rose’s background (including her exact birth date), and then rehashes previous reports from March about William’s attempts to play peacemaker amid tensions between Rose and Catherine .
The story has since been removed.
April 28, 2019: The Express publishes a story about how Rose’s grandmother was one of Queen Elizabeth II’s bridesmaids in 1947. The story initially contains a few paragraphs about the supposed feud between Rose and Catherine, but these lines are quietly removed from the website’s article at some point.
3–5 June 2019: On 3 June, US President Donald Trump attends a state banquet at Buckingham Palace as part of his official visit to the UK. Rose accompanies David in his capacity as Lord Great Chamberlain (he is part of the official procession, along with members of the Trump administration and members of the royal family). The Marchioness of Cholmondeley’s presence attracts considerable media attention over the next few days, with stories inevitably reigniting rumours of a supposed “falling out” between her and Catherine. Tatler describes Rose as a “controversial guest” in its coverage, noting that “rumours of a rift between Rose and Catherine spread like wildfire through the media earlier this year”. The article points out that the two women were not seated next to each other, suggesting that this may have been done “to limit the opportunity to capture them in the same picture, which would have fuelled rumours and speculation”.
The Daily Mail publishes a separate article about Rose’s attendance at the “awkward” state banquet, citing all previous reports about the alleged tension between her and Catherine. The Sun follows suit, publishing two stories about Cholmondeley’s attendance at the official event, calling Rose Kate’s “rival” and “frenemy”.
The Daily Mail and Sun articles have since been removed.
June 8–11, 2019: Photos from a banquet thrown for Trump show that Rose was not wearing her wedding ring at the event, and the British tabloids respond enthusiastically. First, the Mail on Sunday publishes a story about Rose’s apparently sad life in recent months following her showdown with a “country rivalry.” The story mentions Rose’s missing ring (and the print edition includes a photo of the ring on her hand at another event), suggesting that she is suffering from “heartache.” She is described as looking “a little grim” at the event, and the article notes that this is the first time Catherine and the Marchioness have been in the same place since their feud first appeared in the papers. The following day, The Sun notes Rose’s lack of a wedding ring at the Trump banquet and publishes its own story speculating about the state of her marriage to David and why she has been “gradually excluded” from the royal couple’s social circle, William and Catherine. In the article, an unnamed source laments the tension between the two women, noting: “Rose and Kate’s lives have been intertwined in many ways over the years.” On June 11, The Express publishes its own story, headlined “Royal scandal: Shock as Kate Middleton’s ex-best friend Rose spotted without wedding ring.” The latter article states that Rose’s “empty” ring finger at the gala “raises questions about her marriage.” Citing “people in the know,” the article also claims that William has tried to “fix things” between Kate and Rose, but his wife refuses to “let it go.”
All three stories have since been deleted.
13 June 2019: The Sun returns to the gossip game again, publishing a scandalous story headlined “No Rose: Rose Hanbury’s world rocked by ‘major’ row with Kate Middleton and Prince William“. Following the tone of a similar article in the Mail on Sunday, the newspaper reports that Rose’s life has taken a turn for the worse. According to the article, a regular at Rose’s brother’s private club said the marchioness’s brother “revealed when he was drunk that Rose knows people are talking about her and William. And it seems there is less romance in Rose’s marriage at the moment”. Another anonymous source, “one of Rose’s friends“, told the paper that the marchioness was struggling to cope with everything that was happening. “It’s a very, very difficult time for Rose and it hasn’t been easy for her to realise that she has become the subject of gossip simply because she has such a good friendship with William and Kate.” A friend adds that the rumour “appears to have started because Rose had dinner with William in Norfolk once or twice while Kate was away“. An unnamed source says the two did not meet behind Catherine’s back. “Kate was grateful that a good friend and neighbour like Rose was there to entertain William – as a platonic friend.“
The story has since been deleted.
June 15, 2019: The Mail on Sunday publishes an interesting story with more gossip about the Cholmondeley family. The paper reports that Rose’s husband David is in Paris with his “close friend” Francois-Marie Banier. A French source tells the Mail on Sunday that the men “share professional interests and are the best of male friends“, adding that they “buy properties together” and are “always there for each other in difficult times”. The report also claims that royal advisers are “stepping in” to help Rose and David “handle the media” and asking them to “not say anything”. “Rose is very upset that she is suddenly the talk of the area,” a source tells the paper. “She is very aware of what is being said and is trying to keep a brave face.“
The story has since been deleted.
Late June 2019: Tatler publishes its annual Social Power Index – a list of the ten most powerful people/couples in British society, with David and Rose coming in last. In its profile of Cholmondeley, the magazine refers to the rumours surrounding Catherine and the Marchioness, noting: “While some neighbours no longer come here, Houghton Hall is still a hot ticket – whether for summer dinners on the lawn or weekend parties.“
The Sun and Express have been publishing articles that mention the alleged tension between Kate and Rose. The Sun’s headline is a pretty good summary of its contents: “NOT ALL ROSES: Royal aides tell Kate Middleton’s ‘country rival’ Rose Hanbury to keep quiet after major disagreement with Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.” The Express story features a tiara Rose wore to a banquet for President Trump, but originally included several suggestions that Kate’s friendship with the marchioness was over. The article appears to have been edited to remove all references to the feud allegations on July 17, 2019. The Sun article has since been removed.
Restoring the Royal Image
5 January 2020: Rose and David attend a service at St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, along with Catherine, Prince William and the Queen. The Cholmondeleys are not the only Toffs to accompany members of the royal family to church, but they are the only ones mentioned in stories the Daily Mail and Mirror write about the event on the day it takes place. Both articles describe Rose as a “friend” of Prince William and Catherine. The Sun, however, runs a story with the headline: “ROYAL RIVAL: Kate Middleton and Prince William’s ex-girlfriend Rose Hanbury attend same service as royal couple despite spat“.
The Sun’s story has since been deleted.
6 January 2020: MailOnline runs a story about Catherine and Rose being seen at church together. The article is initially headlined “Is Rose Hanbury back in the royal family? Kate Middleton’s friend seen with her for the first time since rift rumours… but will she join the guests at the Duchess’s 38th birthday party this week?” Some time after publication, the headline is updated to read: “Kate Middleton’s friend Rose Hanbury has been seen with her for the first time in more than three years – and is due to attend the Duchess’s 38th birthday party this week.” The text of the article also undergoes major changes. The original publication referred to Rose as Kate’s “rural rival” and referred to the alleged “squabbles” of 2019 and the “feud” between the two women. The first version of the piece also includes a line about Prince William trying to play the role of “peacemaker” and notes that the Cholmondeleys appear to have “won their way back into the royal couple’s good graces.” Text from Richard Kay’s column of 24 March 2019 is republished at the bottom of the first version of the article. The story, now published on the Daily Mail website, makes no mention of any rift between Rose, David, Catherine and Prince William. The Marchioness is described as a “long-time friend” and a “regular in the royal circle”, and Kay’s clip has disappeared.
January 8, 2020: Three days after publishing a story about the alleged tensions between Rose and Catherine, the Sun publishes a profile of “the princess’s inner circle”, a group the paper calls “team Catherine”. Each of the eight people on the list is given just a few sentences, and nothing in Rose’s description suggests she and Catherine are on anything but the best of terms.
May 25, 2020: Tatler magazine publishes its July/August cover story on its website, a detailed profile of the then Duchess of Cambridge titled “Catherine the Great.” It’s one of the most detailed articles ever written about the future queen’s life, family, and place in the monarchy. The writing is lush, full of quotes from seemingly well-informed, unnamed sources. There’s only one sentence about Rose in the profile, but it’s an intriguing one. The article’s author, longtime royal reporter Anna Pasternak, writes that “there was an alleged row between Cholmondeley and the royal couple last year over Rose’s apparent closeness to William.“
Two days after the profile was published, Kensington Palace issued a rare statement criticizing the magazine. The palace says the story contains “a host of inaccuracies and false distortions” and claims Tatler did not contact Prince William and Catherine’s office for comment before publication. A spokesman for the magazine denies the palace, saying: “The fact that they deny knowing anything is categorically false.” Days later, lawyers representing the royal family lodge a formal complaint about the story and demand that Tatler remove it from the internet. Months pass with no updates, and then on 19 September, the Mail on Sunday reports that the magazine has “caved in” to the palace’s demands and removed “almost a quarter” of the article from its website. The sentence about Rose being “close” to Prince William was one of many excised.
In a statement to Vulture, Anna Pasternak said: “I have no idea why these particular quotes were removed from Tatler at the behest of the royal family, as they seemed innocuous to me, and the phrase ‘Toff turnip’ was used repeatedly in other media. The hypersensitivity to all things Rose Hanbury seems to reinforce the feeling that where there’s smoke there’s fire. When the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge responded to the Tatler article with sudden and alarming, easy sensitivity, they gave the article much more fire in a way I never understood.”
August 15, 2020: The Daily Beast’s Tom Sykes tells an anecdote about the William-Rose affair rumors in an article about being a royal reporter. He says he first learned of the “shocking” alleged affair at a “dinner party attended by one of his top sources, the daughter of an earl.”
December 31, 2020: The Daily Mail publishes a story about “Kate’s friend” Rose’s activities on ForbiddenGram, including asking followers of her official Houghton Hall account, which she runs, if they could recommend places to buy “not too expensive” rugs for the bedroom. The original story includes a line about Rose being dubbed a “country rival,” but adds that the two women “appeared to have patched things up in January last year when they both attended a service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham.” However, the “feud” reference is removed from the article shortly after publication.
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June 12, 2021: Us Weekly publishes an exclusive story titled “How Prince William and Duchess Kate have recovered from ‘hurtful’ rumours he had an affair.” A “family friend of Kate’s” told the publication that Catherine “obviously finds the rumours hurtful and hates the thought of her children reading about them online one day“. The source said the ordeal “has forced Catherine and William to sit down and examine their relationship, something they realised they should do more often”. Another insider described the rumours as a “hiccup” and insisted the couple were still going strong: “Regardless of their ups and downs, they love each other very much and their children are the most important thing in their lives.” The story names Rose as the alleged other woman, but gives no details other than her name and title.
March 29, 2022: As part of its coverage of Prince Philip’s memorial service, MailOnline publishes a story about the outfit Rose wore to the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
July 28, 2022: Banned celebrity gossip account DeuxMoi posts an article about the sex life of a royal. “This is so smutty that I am too shocked to share it with you (but I will anyway),” the anonymous author wrote in the post. “This member of the British Royal Family’s extramarital affair is no secret in London or among the English aristocracy, and is the talk of every party and newspaper. I was told at a recent media party that the real reason for the affair was the Royal’s love of a certain kind of pleasure – he wants to be tied up and have a strap-on used on him. But his wife is too old-fashioned to do that. The wife did not mind her husband having lovers, and in fact preferred her husband to have sex, satisfying his refined needs elsewhere, until the situation became emotionally involved for the husband, as it had with the last woman he fell in love with.“
DeuxMoi’s post doesn’t just resurrect old rumors about William and Rose (which, up until this point, had been largely confined to longtime royal watchers) — it catapults the narrative of alleged infidelity into the wider public consciousness. Old stories and gossip from 2019 are amplified and shared, giving rise to the social media hashtags #princeofpegging and #princewilliamaffair.
While Kensington Palace apparently won’t comment, a former employee revealed in March 2024 that the royals were definitely aware of #princeofpegging. The palace reportedly demanded that an airline remove one of its branded tweets that mentioned the prince and the hashtag.
December 3, 2022: In an article headlined “Rose Hanbury’s ‘er@tic, exotic and eccentric’ teenage years detailed in new book“, the Mail on Sunday reviews Violet Naylor’s Rare Birds, Real Style. The article cites passages from the book that describe the raucous parties thrown by Rose and her sister Marina’s parents at their childhood home in Devon.
April 12, 2023: In the Daily Beast article “What feud? Friends say Rose Hanbury will be at King Charles’s coronation“, Tom Sykes revisits the 2019 rumours about Rose, Catherine and William in the context of the upcoming historic event. A “family friend” tells Sykes: “There was never any feud between Kate and Rose. The rumours were complete nonsense. The family are long-standing allies of the Crown and they will be there.” The article also calls the rumours of an alleged affair “unfounded.”
May 6, 2023: On the day of King Charles III’s coronation, MailOnline reports that Rose appeared to “pay homage” to Catherine with the outfit she wore to the ceremony. The article notes the similarities between the black and white dress the Marchioness wore to the ceremony and the outfit the princess wore during a walk the previous day, as well as the fact that both women wore the same Aquazzura shoes. The Express newspaper also reports on the big shoe news.
Media coverage of the coronation notes that Cholmondeley’s youngest son, Oliver, was made one of the King’s pages of honour, as was the future monarch Prince George. Oliver’s presence at the service (and on the Buckingham Palace balcony after the ceremony) reignites discussions on social media about an alleged affair between William and Rose. Aside from the adultery rumours, there has long been unsubstantiated speculation that William could be the father of one of Rose’s children. Oliver’s ceremonial position at the coronation has led some social media users to speculate that he could be the child in question. The fact that Oliver has a twin brother seems to have slipped many minds.
12 May 2023: The Financial Times publishes a photo-filled report from inside the Cholmondeleys’ opulent historic home, Houghton Hall. Although both couples (the Wales and the Cholmondeleys) are mentioned in the article, most of the comments included are from the marquess.
14–16 August 2023: Catherine, Rose and several unnamed friends attend a “high-class 24-hour music festival” in the grounds of Houghton Hall on 12 August, according to reports published by the Daily Mail (14 August) and the Evening Standard (16 August). The Daily Mail claims the group had gathered at the Cholmondeleys’ home for a dinner party, but after dinner Rose suggested they all go to the festival. “Catherine was nervous about the idea, but after much discussion with her security team, she went with heavy security,” a source told Daily Mail reporter Richard Eden, who later added his own commentary to the article, claiming that the “lively evening” was “just the latest example of the warm friendship between the future king and queen and Chumley.” The Evening Standard reported that Rose, Catherine and friends visited a restaurant on the festival grounds and that the princess “was in high spirits, ordering spicy margaritas, eating affogatos and chatting affably with other members of her party.” They reportedly left a £700 tip and brought a large bottle of rosé with them. The Daily Mail and Evening Standard stories were picked up by other media outlets, particularly the British tabloids, and dozens of articles about Catherine, Rose and the rave festival soon appeared online.
18 August 2023: The Sun publishes a glowing review of Catherine and Rose’s relationship, with the headline: “How Kate Middleton’s friendship with socialite bombshell Rose Hanbury has survived THE rift rumours and their heartbreaking affair.” Despite citing the women’s alleged rift in the title, the article glosses over the rumours and the newspaper’s role in fuelling them.
28 November 2023: The Mirror publishes a story about new alleged details of the affair revealed in reporter Omid Scobie’s recently published book on the royal family, Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival. “According to the book, reports claimed Rose had dined with William in Norfolk once or twice while Kate was away – but strictly as ‘platonic friends,’” the article says. The article adds that Prince William and Rose did not meet behind Catherine’s back, and in fact she was “grateful that a good friend and neighbour like Rose was there to entertain William.” The rest of the story involves the future king’s reaction to the rumours told in Endgame. It’s worth noting that the information in the Mirror story, namely details of the platonic dinners, echoes reporting from a since-deleted Sun article published on June 13, 2019.
That story has since been removed.
November 30, 2023: Omid Scobie gives an interview to ET, revealing what he learned about the alleged affair while writing his book. Scobie says he doesn’t believe there is anything between the future king and there was something going on with the marchioness, and that he was “very careful” in the book to focus only on the allegations and the fallout. “There’s so much you can’t go into for legal reasons, but I thought it was really important to bring the alleged story to light – even if it turned out to be just a rumour,” he says. While the Palace didn’t respond to the allegations directly when they were revealed in 2019, Omid has said it did so “indirectly”, instead pitching articles about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to the press. Whether or not an affair took place, Scobie says: “The rumours themselves are going to have a fairly negative impact on William’s reputation. We still see them trending on Twitter regularly… I think it’s incredibly damaging to William.” Omid Scobie claims there was “a kind of willingness within the Palace to throw Harry under the bus just to have those rumours go away.”
The Problem With Conspiracy Theories
2 February 2024: A few weeks after Kensington Palace announced that Catherine had undergone elective abdominal surgery, The Sun newspaper publishes a story about Rose. At this point, online conspiracy theories about Catherine had not yet emerged, but perhaps the editor sensed which way the wind was blowing? However, despite The Sun reviving rumours of Catherine and Rose’s relationship, the story makes no mention of there ever being any animosity between the two women.
Early March 2024: As rumours about Catherine’s health mount online, people begin to discuss an alleged affair, and a conspiracy theory begins to spread on Twitter that Prince William is planning to divorce her. Many media outlets begin to publish stories about the Marchioness, although not all of them mention the affair rumours. These outlets include News International (2 March), SheKnows (2 March), and the Independent (10 March).
March 12, 2024: The Late Show host Stephen Colbert jokes about an alleged affair between Prince William and Rose, whom he refers to by name and title, and wonders whether the rumours of an illicit relationship are connected to the “disappearance” of the Princess of Wales.
March 13, 2024: The Guardian, in a roundup of monologues by US talk show hosts, initially included Rose in its description of Colbert’s joke about Prince William’s alleged affair. Hours after publication, her name is quietly removed from the story. By March 19, the newspaper had also removed the embedded video of Colbert’s monologue from the article. There is no editorial note or change at publication time to indicate that the story had been updated. When asked for comment in March 2024, a Guardian spokesperson said: “These changes were made following an internal editorial review and not following external engagement.“
March 13–16, 2024: Colbert’s prank opens the proverbial floodgates. Media outlets around the world (mostly excluding the UK) run stories on the topic of “Who is Rose Hanbury?” People on Twitter debate whether this is an SEO play, a deliberate PR campaign orchestrated by Chumlee, or, for those who believe, Catherine’s “abdominal surgery” is a cover for her and William’s divorce proceedings and a “soft launch” of Rose as the next wife of the future king. Among the many outlets publishing (or updating) clarifications on the Marchioness and Rose-Prince William romance rumors are ET, the New York Post, Harper’s Bazaar, The Cut, Newsweek, Grazia, and the Toronto Star.
March 16, 2024: For the first time since this all began, Rose (through lawyers) makes a public statement. Her legal team told Business Insider: “These rumours are completely false.“
March 18–30, 2024: Rose’s widespread public attention sparks a controversy no one could have expected: a social media frenzy over the provenance of Chinese artefacts on display at Houghton Hall. Images of Rose and David posing inside their historic home (for articles in Vanity Fair and the Financial Times) go viral on Chinese social media sites as people recognise artwork and furniture dating back to the Qing dynasty in the background. People accuse David’s family of “looting” the items during a turbulent time in China’s history.
After 12 days of online debate and widespread press coverage, Houghton Hall issues a statement defending the Cholmondeleys. “The objects of Chinese origin in the photographs to which you refer were acquired by the Walpole family, the original owners of Houghton, in the 18th century, in the mid-Qing dynasty, mainly through agents rather than directly in China,” a spokesman writes. “The objects were not looted but were mainly intended for export to Europe. It would be difficult to find a country house collection, whether private or owned by the National Trust, which does not feature objects acquired in or from China. This is typical of most European and American collections.“
20 March 2024: Richard Eden includes a section on Rose in his Daily Mail gossip column, reporting that the Cholmondeleys attended the National Portrait Gallery’s annual gala on 19 March. “Rose, who celebrated her milestone 40th birthday at the weekend, hopes her friend Princess Catherine will be dancing again soon,” Eden writes, referring to the Houghton Hall music festival.
March 21, 2024: Rose’s lawyers tell In Touch magazine that they have served CBS with a formal legal notice over The Late Show host Stephen Colbert’s appearance. “The rumour appears to have recently spread to the media as a result of another joke made about it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. We have written on behalf of our client to CBS and various other reputable media outlets to confirm that the allegation is false.“
28 March 2024: Six days after Kensington Palace released a short video message from Catherine, Princess of Wales, announcing her cancer diagnosis, the Cholmondeleys are also in the news with the announcement that an art exhibition called The Horizon of Time will be held at Houghton Hall from April to October. For the exhibition, sculptor Sir Antony Gormley has erected 100 life-size statues on the lawn around the historic building. The Daily Mail and The Sun both describe the couple as “friends” and “former neighbours” of the Wales (as William, Catherine and their children now live permanently at Adelaide Cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle).
1–8 April 2024: Up until this point, stories about Rose and the alleged affair between her and William have been deliberately vague, largely confined to material published online. That changes this week, as US tabloids publish stories online and in print. OK! magazine reveals “Who is Rose” once again. Star calls her “the other woman” and references the alleged affair in its tale of the king supposedly fearing for William’s future. In Touch devotes two consecutive articles to the alleged affair. The April 1 issue suggests that the Wales’ marriage is over amid “new affair rumours and an alleged cover-up“, while Rose herself is on the cover of the April 8 issue, which describes her as “the woman who knows everything”. In Touch calls her William’s “mistress” and hints that she may be pregnant.
9 April 2024: The Daily Mail publishes a story about Rose sending a handwritten thank-you note in response to a fan who sent a card for the Marchioness’s 40th birthday (15 March). “I feel very lucky to have had 40 happy years already… and hope to have many more to come,” Rose wrote to the fan who posted a response on ForbiddenGram.
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12 May 2024: Rose attends the final day of the races (an event also attended by Queen Camilla and Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall) and photos of her sitting in the stands are quickly published by the Daily Mail and shared on Twitter, where users speculate on why her appearance at the event was newsworthy. Later that day, photos emerge of the Queen, Rose and cosmetics businesswoman Charlotte Tilbury chatting. The images kick off a new media cycle, with many (outside the UK) media outlets noting that the Queen and Marchioness are on good terms despite the rumours of an affair between Rose and William.
May 15, 2024: The Cholmondeleys attend the OBE Thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral alongside the King and Queen. Their youngest son Oliver plays a special role at the service, once again carrying the train of the royal robes as one of the monarch’s pages of honour. The public appearance hasn’t received the same publicity as Rose’s day at the races, but In Touch covers it in a story titled “Rose Hanbury Spotted With Husband David For First Time Since Prince William Cheated.“
Rose’s two public appearances with members of the royal family in such a short period of time, on top of Oliver’s official role at the service, have people once again speculating about the possibility of her replacing Catherine as William’s wife. Some have noted that the hat Rose wore to the service is identical to the one Catherine had previously worn.
May 17, 2024: Richard Eden of the Daily Mail publishes a short article (about seven sentences) with the somewhat obsequious title “How Rose Hanbury, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, is flourishing at Queen Camilla’s court.“
After that, rumors, gossip, articles, etc. about Rose Hanbury suddenly died down. Now she is not mentioned in the media.
The Palace probably took action after all. And Catherine, triumphantly appearing at the parade in honor of King Charles III’s birthday, and photographed with William clearly looking at her with loving eyes, left no stone unturned from the gossip…
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