False Rumors Everyone Believed About Kate Middleton And Prince William's Relationship

There have been conspiracy theories about the royal family all throughout history. Human nature inclines people to speculate and theorize when they don't have all the answers, and since the royal family often follows the "never complain, never explain" rule, the somewhat mysterious nature of their personal lives is fodder for rumors that, sometimes, spiral into royal PR disasters.

Kate Middleton and Prince William have been at the center of a large number of rumors throughout their relationship — people have spread stories of affairs, break-ups, and more. Usually, the couple doesn't respond to such talk, likely because of the family motto. But that's not always the case. For instance, as the KateGate conspiracy theories had celebrities weighing in on her absence from the public eye in early 2024, the princess announced to the world that she was undergoing cancer treatments.

Although, many other rumors about the Prince and Princess of Wales haven't had any official comments from Kensington Palace, or the royals themselves, some of them seem to have officially been debunked as false based on other sources.

One of the false narratives surrounding Kate Middleton is that she was something of a Prince William fangirl before they got together. However, she has denied one rumor that would solidify her supposed fandom. During William and Kate's iconic November 2010 engagement interview with Tom Bradby at ITV News, he asked, "There's a story that goes around that you had a picture of him on your wall as a child." Bradby didn't bring up who started the poster rumor, but it was most likely Jessica Hay. According to The Daily Beast, Hay was a frequent tabloid source for fake stories about Middleton's youth thanks to her claim that the two were close friends in boarding school. However, when it was discovered that Hay and Middleton never went to school together, Hay's credibility went out the window. The stories, however, persisted.

Middleton denied the poster rumor with some cheeky banter after William quipped, "It wasn't just one. There was like 10, 20." She playfully fired back, "He wishes, no. No, I had the Levi's guy on my wall, not a picture of William, sorry." Middleton apologized again and patted William's knee with a chuckle, and he joked, "It was me in Levi's obviously."

Based on her joke-filled denial, it's unlikely that Kate Middleton's final weeks before becoming a royal required carefully hiding posters of William from years past.

The French online publication Oh My Mag published a story in 2022 claiming that Kate Middleton and Prince William were splitting up. Supposedly, an argument was overheard by workers in the palace: "The staff eavesdropped on their conversation where Kate expressed her unhappiness ... After the argument, Kate packed her luggage and left for her parent's house with her children" (via Business Insider). Despite questionable sourcing on Oh My Mag's part, the article gained steam after being picked up by MSN.

Obviously, William and Kate were not separating. Oh My Mag's owner Groupe Cerise told Newsweek, "This story is indeed false and has been published by accident. We are taking it down momentarily." MSN also took down its reporting, and a spokesperson told Business Insider, "The accuracy of our content is a top priority and we continue to enhance our systems to identify and prevent inaccurate information from appearing on our channels. The story and tweet in question have since been removed."

It's unclear how the separation rumors started given that it's unlikely the royal couple would ever separate. There are several reasons why Prince William and Kate Middleton stay together including they actually seem to love each other.

In 2022, Prince William and Kate Middleton took a royal tour. While in Jamaica, many of their photo ops caused a stir, such as photos of the royal couple waving and shaking hands with fans through a chain-link fence in Kingston's Trench Town. The timing of the photo wasn't good as many people were protesting the trip due to the U.K.'s former colonization of Jamaica. Many — including Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness — want Jamaica to be a republic and no longer part of the Commonwealth, meaning the king or queen of England would no longer be its head of state.

One critic on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a tweet that included the line, "Will and Kate: Just off to the colonies to shake hands with some caged children." Others agreed that the photos looked very grim, but Chris Ship, a royal editor for ITV, explained the truth behind the pictures, which were taken at the fence of a soccer field. In a tweet, Ship wrote: "People gathered to watch the match with [Raheem Sterling]. William and Kate went to say hello. Just as they also said hello to crowds in the street. End of story. Move on." (Sterling is an English soccer player who was born in Jamaica.)

Even with context, some commenters on Ship's tweet thought the optics of the picture were still bad based on the former colonization.

Prince William's rumored affair with Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, caused a big stir. The rumors started in 2019 and sources for In Touch claimed it happened while Kate Middleton was pregnant with Prince Louis. Middleton and Hanbury were close friends, making the situation more intense. One source for In Touch reported that William laughed and denied the speculation when Kate asked about it. However, she was suspicious and didn't want William spending time with Hanbury or her husband David Rocksavage anymore: "Kate sees their friendship in an entirely different light now" (via The Daily Beast).

The truth about Rose Hanbury and Prince William's relationship is that there seems to be nothing concrete about the speculation, but it supposedly caused some collateral damage. Many people believed the affair rumors changed Rose Hanbury's friendships, including with Middleton. Other sources expressed otherwise, believing that the women rekindled their friendship.

In 2023, an insider spoke to OK! Magazine and said "There was tension between them because of all the nasty gossip. They had a chance to speak for the first time in a while and made peace." According to OK!, Richard Kay from the Daily Mail said the couples decided to ignore the affair speculation and added, "These hurtful rumors of a fallout are simply false." Prince William's team regrets how the cheating scandal was handled, but some sources say the affair rumors brought William and Kate closer together instead of driving a wedge between them.

Rumors of trouble in paradise for Prince William and Kate Middleton have continued to make the rounds online. In March 2024, when the conspiracy theories around Middleton's whereabouts were running rampant, the divorce rumors were touted once again. Rose Hanbury was also dragged back in as royal watchers speculated that William left Kate for his alleged mistress. One major reason for the divorce rumors was the altered photo shared to Kate and William's Instagram that didn't include her wedding ring. That detail was seen as odd, with Sarah Vine from the Daily Mail wondering why Middleton didn't edit the ring onto her finger, even if she couldn't wear it for medical reasons following her abdominal surgery: "Forget Charlotte's sleeve, just pop that wedding ring back on." Vine then wondered if it was left out on purpose.

There seems to be no weight to any of the divorce speculation, especially after Middleton explained that her cancer diagnosis was the reason she was staying out of the public eye. Plus, royal correspondent Richard Palmer spoke on The Sun's Royal Exclusive show and explained his perspective after seeing William and Kate in person. He doesn't buy claims that their marriage is doomed.

"The body language, everything, you can just tell that they, I think anyway, that they're really into each other and the marriage has worked," Palmer said. "There's a meeting of minds there."