Prince William & Kate Middleton Can't Escape the Urban Myth of Rose Hanbury

The British tabloids have been in bed with the royal family for decades, but there’s one thing the palace didn’t think about — the U.S. media isn’t willing to play that same game. It’s been five years since the affair allegations surfaced about Prince William and Rose Hanbury, and while there’s never been any concrete […]

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The British tabloids have been in bed with the royal family for decades, but there’s one thing the palace didn’t think about — the U.S. media isn’t willing to play that same game. It’s been five years since the affair allegations surfaced about Prince William and Rose Hanbury, and while there’s never been any concrete evidence that they cheated on their spouses, the shady behavior of the U.K. media only amped up the internet even more. 

Vulture did a deep dive on the complete timeline of when Hanbury first appeared in the press as the U.K. version of Paris Hilton. They followed her trajectory through her marriage to David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and the birth of their three children. Eventually, the timelines start to overlap with William and Kate Middleton as a part of the social set near their country estate, Anmer Hall. Reports of Kate’s “rural rival” began to emerge as the narrative unfolded, alleging that the Princess of Wales was in the process of “phasing out” Hanbury from their circle of friends. 

However, Vulture noted a curious trend with the U.K. tabloids. Once the palace got their hands on the outlets (with possible legal threats), a total of 21 stories disappeared from their websites, and six articles “were edited post-publication to remove information” over the last five years from the following publications, “Tatler, the Daily Mail/MailOnline/Mail on Sunday, the Evening Standard, the Mirror, The Sun, the Daily Express, and The Guardian.” It feels like the palace has their fingerprints all over the deletions, but Vulture couldn’t get anyone from the royal family or Hanbury’s legal team “to provide any specific on-the-record statements” about the removal of information. What are they hiding?

As noted by the outlet, and in SheKnows’ exclusive interview with Omid Scott about his book, Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival, while the palace reportedly tried to squash the William affair stories, an uptick of negative stories about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle suddenly appeared. Scobie found no evidence of infidelity on the Prince of Wales’ part, but his communications team regrets how they handled the crisis. “There’s definitely a feeling that those days were like dark times, and lines were crossed on all sides. Now, none of that’s ever publicly admitted but it’s certainly acknowledged by a few,” he said.

William and Kate seemed to be haunted by the urban myth of Hanbury, especially when the story again resurfaced amid the Princess of Wales’ health battle. Hanbury’s lawyers finally offered up a simple statement to Business Insider at the intense height of the rumors in March, noting, “The rumours are completely false.” However, the palace needs to figure out a better PR plan anytime a crisis arises because they continue to fan the flames instead of getting ahead of the story. It’s why Hanbury is still part of the equation five years after the story emerged.

Before you go, click here to see everything you need to know about Rose Hanbury, the close friend of Prince William & Kate Middleton.