Rose Hanbury and William: Who is the Prince's Alleged Mistress?

Could Prince William be cheating on wife Kate Middleton? Rumors of an affair between Rose Hanbury and William began circulating in 2019, after reports of a falling out between Kate and the Marchioness of Cholmondeley caused widespread conversation and tension between the friends. 

Hanbury previously worked as a fashion model with a contract from Storm Models, the agency that discovered Kate Moss and Cara Delevingne. She also worked for conservative politician, Michael Gove as a researcher. Her husband is David Rocksavage, a 63-year-old English filmmaker and 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, descended from one of England's aristocratic families. Rose met him on a vacation trip to Italy and after six years together, they decided to get married and have three children.

The young woman also has royal relatives. Her maternal grandmother was Lady Elizabeth Lambart, daughter of the 10th Earl of Cavan, who was one of the maids of honor at Queen Elizabeth's wedding to Prince Philip.

Rose Hanbury and William became involved because they were neighbors in Norfolk, the English county and region where William and Kate lived. Thus, the children of the two couples became friends and the families became closer as a part of the same elite social circle. 

In 2019, word of a feud between Kate and Rose took off in the British tabloids, with The Sun writing that Kate had plans to "phase her out." When a response from the Daily Mail rebutted the gossip as false but revealed that both sides considered legal action, that was enough for tabloids across the world to read between the lines and turn the rumor of a feud into a full-blown affair. 

Since then, Rose has appeared at several royal events and her son even shared the role of page at King Charles' coronation with Kate and William's son, George. It seems like any talk of the affair between Rose Hanbury and William is just speculation, and the alleged tension between the two women exists only in the press. 

In an interesting turn of events since Kate Middleton’s much speculated disappearance from the public eye in recent months, fan theories on the Princess of Wales’ whereabouts have been running rampant online in the past few weeks. Especially after Kensington Palace shared a Mother’s Day appreciation post on March 10th, with Middleton in a portrait with her children, though people online were quick to notice that she was edited into the photo, causing further speculation and rumors to swirl that Middleton asked Prince William for a divorce due to his alleged affair with Rose Hanbury, though there is no solid evidence of the affair, and a royal inside told The Daily Beast in 2023, “There has never been any enmity between Kate and Rose. The rumors were all a load of rubbish. The family are ancient allies of the Crown and they will be there,” referencing Hanbury’s appearance at King Charles Coronation last year.