How Rose Hanbury Affair Rumors Brought William And Kate Closer Than Ever

Before all the beef with his younger brother, Prince William was at the heart of a different scandal. William was accused of cheating on his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales, in 2019. The other woman alleged to be linked to William's cheating rumors was Rose Hanbury, a friend of Kate Middleton's with her own title — Marchioness of Cholmondeley. However, is it possible that the affair rumors helped William and Kate's marriage?

According to a source who spoke with Us Weekly in 2019, that is exactly what happened. The insider who alleged to know Kate said she dislikes that her kids will see the gossip on the internet when they're older. However, "[The rumors] forced her and William to sit back and examine their relationship, which they realized they should have been doing more often." They added that the couple were "determined to pull through it and are doing a great job at getting their marriage back on track again."

Another source told the outlet, "[William and Kate are] still going strong. Regardless of their ups and downs, they love each other dearly, and their kids are the most important thing in their lives."

The infidelity speculation was never spoken about by any of the parties potentially involved.  Omid Scobie, a journalist focused on the royals, penned the tell-all "Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival." In a November 2023 interview with Entertainment Tonight shortly after its publication, Scobie mentioned how he didn't believe the rumors about Prince William cheating had any weight to them — but not bringing them up meant the gossip would persist. Rumors about the Rose Hanbury affair have started up again and again.

"They never addressed it," Scobie said of the alleged affair, "so those rumors will never go away even though there's no truth to suggest that they are true." He included the affair gossip in his book but was cautious with how he approached it. "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," Scobie said. "And I really don't see proof that there is more to this than just a tittle-tattle, you know."

However, even if there was never an affair, just the speculation about it can be hard to deal with. Scobie added, "It probably looks even worse, actually, that there was a kind of willingness to throw Harry under the bus simply to make these things disappear."

Despite the accusations, the relationship between Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, flourished and has continued to. An Us Weekly article from September 2023 gave a glimpse into their relationship when a source from the palace said, "William and Kate are more in sync than ever. They cherish what they have with each other. For them, family comes first, and it always will." They are supposedly also known to express their support for each other, with the source adding, "They're in awe of each other. William tells anyone who will listen that he couldn't do it without Kate, and she echoes that right back."

Things may be all right for the friendship between Kate and Rose Hanbury as well. Although "Endgame" author Omid Scobie mentioned a "fallout" between the royal couple and Hanbury in his Entertainment Tonight interview, it has been reported as recently as August 2023 that Kate attended a music festival at Hanbury's house in Norfolk (via Daily Mail).