Since Kate Middleton met and married Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge has encountered
very little in the way of scandal.
That's not exactly a surprise… does she scream "scandalmonger" to you?
"Childhood is an incredibly important moment in our lives.
It is a time when we explore our personalities…"
But on April 15, 2019, In Touch floated a cover story claiming that Prince William had
cheated on the duchess with her friend Rose Hanbury... even though Prince William doesn't
exactly strike us as a wild card himself.
"Thank you so much for showing that the great British public doesn't let a little rain spoil
a good day out."
Here's everything you need to know about this supposed royal scandal.
Prior to the In Touch cover story, the biggest controversy that Kate Middleton drummed up
was during that brief period when she and Prince William split up in 2007.
She allegedly got drunk on white wine, wore Playboy bunny ears to a nightclub, and fell
down while roller skating.
Normal breakup stuff, basically.
But now Middleton finds herself facing the same kind of cheating rumors that plagued
Princess Diana several decades ago.
The accusations come from a single American tabloid, and the British media has left the
story virtually untouched.
That didn't stop the story from going viral: Prince William was soon trending worldwide.
But where did the rumors came from?
That's the million-pound question.
On the surface, it looks like the whole thing started with a bizarre, unsubstantiated girl
fight that snowballed into the ultimate betrayal.
Really, though?
To fully understand what's going on here, it's important to understand who Rose Hanbury
is.
According to The Sun, she's
Yes, for some inexplicably British reason, that's pronounced "Chumley."
According to The Cut, a Marchioness is the wife of a Marquess; an aristocratic title
that ranks slightly below Duke.
In other words, if the rumors are true, Hanbury punched up.
But how close is she to Kate Middleton?
Hanbury is reportedly part of Kate and Wills' Norfolk friends group dubbed the "Turnip Toffs."
Based on the sheer amount of wealth and drama, The Toffs are basically the UK real-life reboot
of Dynasty.
"I suggest that you tread very carefully with me."
Hanbury is a former model who once made headlines after posing in a bikini next to former prime
minister Tony Blair.
Her husband is David Rock­savage, otherwise known as David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess
of Cholmondeley.
He's a former filmmaker who's 23 years older than his wife, and he inherited an estate
worth an estimated 112 million pounds.
According to The Sun, the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley live in a mansion that's only
three-and-a-half miles away from Kate and William's Anmer Hall residence.
Oh, and their kids are playmates.
Could a stronger bond possibly exist between parents of high society?
In April 2019, The Daily Beast reported that rumors of a royal affair had been floating
around for the better part of a year.
The first whiff that something wasn't right with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge allegedly
emerged in a report from the Daily Mail, when the tabloid insisted that Middleton saw Hanbury
as her
The Sun echoed that sentiment a few days later, claiming that the Duchess of Cambridge wanted
Hanbury, quote, "phased out" of their friends group.
Throughout this alleged falling out, Prince William was reportedly doing his best to mediate
the situation.
The cause of the supposed spat was entirely unclear.
Since 2018, Middleton and Prince William have faced more than a few rumors about alleged
in-fighting.
The tabloids have mostly focused on Kate's relationship with sister-in-law Meghan Markle.
Some reports claim the royal couple wanted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to leave England
altogether so that they could remain in the spotlight, but theories abound.
In regards to the alleged fight between Middleton and Rose Hanbury, details are exceedingly
scarce.
According to The Daily Beast, not a single publication can even explain what happened.
Of course, that might be because nothing happened at all.
History isn't on Prince William's side.
His father Prince Charles found himself embroiled in a similar scandal when his affair with
Camilla Parker-Bowles rocked headlines while he was still married to Princess Diana.
Of course, those rumors turned out to be entirely true.
"Diana lost her Royal Highness title and became simply Diana, Princess of Wales.
A year later, she was dead."
Today, Parker-Bowles is the Duchess of Cornwall.
Of course, history doesn't actually repeat itself quite as often as the tabloids would
lead us to believe.
According to The Daily Beast, it's official royal protocol to ignore untrue stories…
so then why did Prince William apparently flip the script?
As the Daily Mail reports, he allegedly considered legal action to fight stories of the supposed
affair.
Could his reaction mean something sinister?
If the story was complete nonsense, why would he care?
The Daily Beast reports that Prince William did eventually pursue legal action, sending
at least one warning to a publication that spread rumors about the alleged affair.
But again… why?
In Touch became the first mainstream magazine to publish a report on Prince William's alleged
romp.
According to The Daily Beast, the report claimed Prince William did the deed while Middleton
was pregnant with their third child.
That would be quite a slap in the face for the doting mother of two.
According to In Touch, Middleton reportedly heard about the rumors and immediately demanded
that Prince William,
Reportedly, that's what inspired the alleged falling out.
According to In Touch, the scandal has,
Has it, though?
It's important to note that In Touch has what we'll call "a complicated relationship with
credibility."
According to The New York Times, In Touch even runs a false story about Jennifer Aniston
being pregnant several times a year... and that's just one celeb.
Our advice?
Take this particular royal rumor with the largest grain of salt you can find in the
shaker.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite celebs are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.