A Timeline Of Prince William And Rose Hanbury Affair Rumors

It all started in March 2019: Whispers that something rather unpleasant went down between Princess Catherine and Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, quickly turned into a media storm that still refuses to die down to this day. The two women lived in the same area in Norfolk at the time, leading the press to dub their rumored fight a "rural rivalry." Pundits were instantly interested, but for all the headlines this so-called rift between Catherine and Hanbury made, not a single outlet could point to its cause.

Hanbury is well-known in royal circles — she and her husband, David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, have been spotted at various royal events; and indeed, they were often seen socializing with the Wales'. This led to many assuming that the couples were close friends, but inside sources from both sides told the Daily Mail that, while the couples have always been friendly, they've never been besties. Still, The Sun published rumors in a since-deleted article that insinuated that Catherine and Hanbury had once been close friends but have gotten into a spat that has ended their friendship for good. 

With neither party commenting on the so-called rift, the rumor mill kept turning. Eventually, there were whispers that William and Hanbury had an affair and that Catherine found out and banished Hanbury from their lives in an attempt to save her marriage. Much drama indeed. Read on for a complete timeline of the affair rumors, and how they came to an abrupt end.

When rumors of a rift between Princess Catherine and Rose Hanbury first started, royal correspondent Richard Kay responded to them in a column for the Daily Mail. Kay wrote that he had it on good authority that the rumors were nothing but balderdash, citing every outlet's lack of proof as well as sources close to the two couples. "These hurtful rumors of a fall-out are simply false," a family source told Kay. "William and David were in touch with each other over the weekend, not knowing whether to laugh or complain." Another family member doubled down on these comments, saying, "This is a question of a lie going round the world before the truth has even had time to take its boots off."

Kay also claimed that both the Wales' and the Cholmondeleys had considered taking legal action, given that the rumors had taken on a life of their own. Kay said that the couples ended up forfeiting a lawsuit against the press because of the lack of evidence the stories provided for the so-called feud between Catherine and Hanbury. The timing of this piece was interesting for sure, especially when one takes into account Prince Harry's claims in the "Harry & Meghan" docuseries that the palace often uses outlets like the Daily Mail as a mouthpiece instead of issuing a public statement on matters such as these.

Despite Richard Kay's piece in the Daily Mail trying to make a case that the rumors of a falling out between Princess Catherine and Rose Hanbury were nothing but scuttlebutt, speculation continued. And alas, a few days later, journalist Giles Coren, who worked for The Times of London, sent a tweet into the world that set the entire internet on fire. In response to one of the many articles making the rounds about Catherine and Hanbury's feud, he wrote, "Yes, it is an affair. I haven't read the piece but I know about the affair. Everyone knows about the affair, darling." And just like that, the rumors suddenly had some substance. The palace found itself dealing with a PR disaster that had to be nipped in the bud — and quickly. Not long after Coren posted the explosive tweet, he deleted it. But it still lives on in plenty of screenshots.

Rumor has it that Coren was pressured to delete his tweet by the palace's legal team. The Daily Beast reported that British outlets were also warned by the palace's law firm, Harbottle and Lewis, to refrain from publishing any more stories about the alleged affair, saying that the story was entirely false and infringing upon William and Catherine's human rights.

As the British press tried to tread lightly after the warning from the palace's legal team, American outlets could still do as they pleased, and royal watcher and blogger Nicole Cliffe posted an extensive thread on X, formerly known as Twitter, to discuss her thoughts with readers, and in the process, she sparked additional rumors. The thread, which no longer exists, zoned in on the alleged affair, and Cliffe posted a round-up of her thoughts on Substack, "Nicole Knows," telling her readers that she suspected the British media's ongoing campaign against Meghan Markle served as a distraction to cover up William's affair with Hanbury. She then went on to speculate that the feud between Prince Harry and William was likely a result of Harry being appalled by his older brother's behavior. "Harry remembers what his father's conduct did to his childhood, maybe Wills should as well," Cliffe concluded.

Cliffe wasn't the only one making wild and unsubstantiated claims — The Times also weighed in, alleging that William was behind all the negative press coverage towards Meghan and had direct contact with the tabloids to ensure a steady stream of derogatory stories about the duchess. Of course, there's no proof that these claims are true.

While the British press kept its sights on Meghan Markle amid the contention surrounding Prince William and Rose Hanbury's relationship, American outlet In Touch published an article about the affair rumors, adding fuel to an already raging fire. Unnamed sources told the outlet that William's affair with Hanbury started while Catherine was pregnant with Prince Louis. When the princess got wind of the affair, she asked William whether it was true, but sources claim William denied it and "laughed it off." Catherine, however, was said not to be convinced, so she severed her relationship with Rose Hanbury and told William to do the same. "They come across as a perfect couple who can do no wrong. But the reality is, most couples have their issues and William and Kate are no different," a source told the outlet (via Stylecaster).

In Touch's source added that Catherine had lost all trust in William and was seeing her and Hanbury's friendship "in an entirely different light." The source did, however, assure the outlet that William and Catherine weren't headed for divorce, despite the affair revelations damaging their marriage. The article was later deleted.

With the In Touch article giving the rumor mill some extra fuel, one of Princess Catherine's friends came forward to speak with Us Weekly (they remained anonymous however) to assure everyone that she and Prince William were doing just fine and not allowing the affair rumors to ruin their lives. "Kate finds the rumors hurtful, obviously, and hates the thought that one day her children will be able to read about them online," the friend said. However, they added that Catherine and William were finding the silver lining in the whole situation and taking some time to pay more attention to their marriage.

Another source added that pundits had nothing to worry about because William and Catherine, despite having their ups and downs, are still smitten with each other. "They're 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 source claimed.

Before digging into this next piece of gossip, it's important to note that the Instagram celebrity gossip account DeuxMoi doesn't exactly have a great track record when it comes to sharing the truth. Even Taylor Swift's publicist, Tree Paine, once bashed the account for publishing damaging stories that are utterly false. So, it's probably best to take the information the account publishes with a massive grain of salt.

Three years after the Prince William and Rose Hanbury affair rumors started, DeuxMoi shared a screenshot of a piece of gossip that was sent to it by a source who claimed that a certain royal's affair is an "open secret" among London's elite. "[It] is the talk of every party and newsdesk," the source claimed, adding, "At a recent media party, I was told the real reason for the affair was the royal's love of pegging, which the wife is far too old-fashioned to engage in."

The source didn't name Prince William or Princess Catherine, but most assumed that they were referring to the couple and William's alleged affair with Rose Hanbury. The source went on to allege that Princess Catherine was well aware of William's affair and was fine with it, as long as he didn't get emotionally involved, but apparently, he did with Hanbury. The internet had a meltdown and soon the hashtag #PrinceOfPegging started trending on X, along with #princewilliamaffair. Again, these rumors were never confirmed.

Few will ever forget the Mother's Day photo fiasco Princess Catherine had to weather in March 2024 when she posted a portrait of her and her three kids. The photograph, which was later rejected by major news outlets because it was discovered to be heavily photoshopped, sparked what was arguably one of the greatest media tempests of the 21st century. While conspiracy theories abided, pundits also noticed that Catherine wasn't wearing her wedding ring in the picture. She hadn't been seen in public since December 2023 after undergoing unspecified abdominal surgery in January 2024, and royal watchers immediately started speculating that, perhaps, William and Catherine were silently going through a divorce because of his alleged affair with Rose Hanbury. Sigh.

Catherine confessed to editing the suspicious Mother's Day portrait, but that only led to more speculation, with affair rumors continuing to swirl. In a column Sarah Vine wrote for the Daily Mail during this time, she questioned why Catherine hadn't taken the time to photoshop her ring onto her finger (since the entire picture was so heavily edited), saying that it seemed like a deliberate move. "If it's not there, could that be because she doesn't want it there? It doesn't bear thinking about," she wrote.

Princess Catherine's photoshopped Mother's Day picture didn't just capture the attention of royal pundits — celebrities also started weighing in with conspiracy theories and opinions on the princess' possible whereabouts. One of them was talk show host Andy Cohen. While recording an episode of his "Daddy Diaries" podcast, Cohen touched on the ongoing media storm about Catherine's absence from the spotlight, saying he finds all the theories to lead back to the 2019 rumors of Prince William having an affair with Rose Hanbury. "Don't forget he broke it off with [Kate] after they dated for years and sowed his wild oats for a time and then went back to her," he said. 

To make matters worse, Cohen cited King Charles III's former affair with Camilla, Queen Consort, as proof that the rumors might have some merit, saying that William is "his father's son," after all. Yeah, he went there.

As if having one talk show host fueling the rumors about the alleged affair between Prince William and Rose Hanbury wasn't enough, Stephen Colbert also jumped into the melee during one of his opening monologues on "The Late Show." "The kingdom has been all aflutter by the seeming disappearance of Kate Middleton," Colbert started, before diving into the popular conspiracy theory that Princess Catherine's absence was thanks to William's affair with Hanbury. Colbert made fun of the initial reports that Catherine confronted William about the affair in 2019 and that he laughed it off. "Always a good response when your wife accuses you of cheating," he quipped. 

While it was clear that Colbert was simply making some good fun of all the rumors, bringing up the supposed affair certainly didn't help matters for William and Hanbury — or Catherine, for that matter. After Colbert's remarks went viral, Hanbury's legal team sent a notice to the network. In it, they stated that the affair claims were entirely untrue. 

Whoever it is that spoke to the Daily Beast claiming to be Princess Catherine's friend during the Mother's Day photo fiasco will most likely not receive an invitation to the princess' next social event.

Shortly after the internet exploded with rumors and conspiracy theories as to why Catherine's wedding ring was missing in the picture, the Daily Beast published a piece exploring the rumors and quoted a source that claimed to be a close friend of Catherine's. The friend said that they, along with many of the couples' other friends, were "completely baffled" by the missing ring. They added that Catherine and William's relationship had always seemed to be a strong one, so seeing the princess sans her wedding ring was odd. "It's fair to say we were all completely baffled when the picture came out with the wedding ring missing, especially as it was photoshopped," the friend said. "It just seemed guaranteed to get people asking questions about the state of the marriage." Oof. Of course, this only gave conspiracy theorists more to chew on.

As if that wasn't already bad enough, a former palace courtier also weighed in. "It's deeply annoying and unhelpful for the palace, but it's not surprising that the affair rumors are being reheated. What else are people supposed to think when she sends out a photo not wearing her wedding ring?"

Amid the absolute chaos and the revival of the affair rumors with Prince William, Rose Hanbury finally broke her silence and had her lawyer issue a statement to Business Insider denying the allegations. "The rumors are completely false," Hanbury's attorney told the outlet. Kensington Palace, however, declined to comment, following Queen Elizabeth II's lead of "never complain, never explain" to the bitter end.

Many weren't convinced that Hanbury's statement had much merit, with some pundits speculating that the palace was soft launching Hanbury to the public after The Independent published a piece on the marchioness titled, "Lady Rose Hanbury: Who is the Marchioness of Cholmondeley?" "The soft launch of Rose has began," one pundit wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. The same user also shared a screenshot from other replies to the article. "Well she's prince William's mistress...why a newspaper article on her now? Nothing is random..." one person wrote. "Need to bookmark this for the time everything comes undone," another added. "Soft launching William's mistress now is WILD," another chimed in. And so the rumor mill kept on turning relentlessly.

As rumors about Rose Hanbury and Prince William's alleged affair continued to sow chaos around the internet, royal expert Nick Bullen spoke to Us Weekly to try and put out some fires. "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," he said. He explained that Hanbury was pretty agitated by the rumors when they first made headlines in 2019 and was decidedly not enjoying their revival amid Princess Catherine's mysterious disappearance.

Bullen seemed determined to restore Hanbury's good name, blaming Kensington Palace for not addressing the rumors head-on when they first surfaced in 2019. "Something the royal family could possibly learn from [this] is that [with] these vacuums that are created, other people can be collateral damage. Perhaps they need to think about that collateral damage," Bullen said. He reiterated that the affair rumors were absolute balderdash and that William would never stoop that low, given that Princess Diana and King Charles III divorced after they each had affairs. "He saw the damage that affairs can cause. What I'm told [is], it's just not in his psyche," Bullen said.

After weeks of speculation, wild rumors, and downright crazy conspiracy theories, the media storm surrounding Princess Catherine's whereabouts started to reach a fever pitch. And then, finally, Catherine made an appearance in a video that was aired on BBC and posted to her and Prince William's joint Instagram account — and it wasn't what people expected. Catherine's disappearance hadn't been due to marital troubles at all. Rather, she'd been diagnosed with cancer. 

The princess said that her diagnosis came as a "huge shock" for her and her family and that they had been going through an "incredibly tough couple of months." As the news slowly started to sink in, members of the press and celebrities hung their heads in shame, with many issuing apologies for making fun of Catherine's disappearance. "I think a lot of people that have been making jokes online are really going to regret it," royal correspondent Ellie Hall told CBC after the news broke. And indeed, Catherine's shocking announcement stopped the affair rumors dead in their tracks. At least for now.