Who is Rose Hanbury? Breaking down royal drama amid rumours of her alleged affair with Prince William

Rumours of an affair brewing between Prince William and Rose Hanbury have come back to haunt the British royals amid a whole spectacle of drama and public speculation as Kate Middleton continues to remain away from the public eye since her surgery in January. While netizens areworried for Kate’s health, hereerie absence from every public engagement has brought to the surface rumours that many think could be the reason why Kate is avoiding being seen in public.

Some netizens feel William and Kate's marriage could be on the rocks owing to the former'salleged romantic tryst. As the buzz around the affair gained momentum, Rose Hanbury, the alleged mistress, denied the rumours.

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Kate Middleton Mystery: Where is the Princess since surgery in January 2024?

On March 18, Rose Hanbury’s lawyers told Business Insider that any and all reporting of improper relations between William, and Hanbury "is completely false".

Who is Rose Hanbury?

Rose Hanbury is a 40-year-old former model. She’s officially named Sarah Rose Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley. She and her husband David Rocksavage, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley are parents to three children -- 15-year-old twins Alexander Hugh George Cholmondeley, Earl of Rocksavage; Lord Oliver Timothy George Cholmondeley; and their 8-year-old daughter, Lady Iris Marina Aline Cholmondeley.

Rose and her husband met in Italy in 2003 and were engaged six years later. They tied the knot at a private ceremony at Chelsea Town Hall in London in 2009.

Rose and her Royal connection

It’s widely reported that Rose’s family has along history with the British royal family. According to reports, her grandmother, Lady Elizabeth Lambart, served as one of Queen Elizabeth II's bridesmaids when she married Phillip Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947.

Rose and her husband David also happened to be neighbours to William and Kate. Rose moved to the area with her husband in 2009.

Rose and William’s affair rumours started circulating in April 2019. At the time, a UK tabloid reported that Kate and Rose, who were good friends, had a fallout with each other because of theaffair rumours. It was around that time during an outing when Kate was seen giving William the cold shoulder as he tried to indulge in some PDA.

The Palace, however, chose to stay mum about the rumours and royally ignored them. A royal expert named Omid Scobie who wrote the book “Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival”, mentioned the rumour but briefly. The expert told media, "Unfortunately, if a rumour's left to kind of do its own thing it can run 20 laps around the world before you even think about what, how you want to kind of address it," the royal expert and author told ET. "They never addressed it, so those rumours will never go away even though there's no truth to suggest that they are true."

What’s up with Kate Middleton?

The Princess of Wales, meanwhile, is away from the public eye and has maintained her distance since the medical emergency for which she underwent surgery. The Kensington Palace announced in January that she underwent abdominal surgery and will keep away from public engagement until Easter. This coincided with King Charles III's heath emergency break. The King has taken a break from social commitments owing to poor health, leading to his wife Queen Camilla taking over duties for a bit. The Queen also later took a break from royal duties leading to other members of the family stepping in.

Then Kate was all over the news when Kensington Palace shared a Mother’s Day post featuring Kate and her children, assuring everyone that she was doing okay. The picture, however, turned out to be edited and “manipulated”. Later, the Princess admitted to using tools to edit the picture. Kate apologised and wrote, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. Iwanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."

Most recently, Kate Middleton was seen enjoying a walk with her husband Prince William. She was taking a stroll to herfavourite farm shop, which is a mile away from her Adelaide Cottage. According to the onlookers, Kate looked “happy, relaxed and healthy” during her farm visit.The couple were also spotted watching their children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 taking part in the sports activities.

But not everyone is convinced that it’s her, especially after the photo goof-up.

While the princess has not made any official public outings since her December 25 appearance, she has been spotted outside the palace two times. A few days back, she was reportedly seen with Prince William while leaving Windsor Castle for Westminster Abbey to attend Commonwealth Day Service. She was seen sitting in the backseat. Before this, she was captured with her mother Carole outside the Windsor castle.

It has been reported that Kate Middleton will reveal more details about her abdominal surgery once she resumes her duties.