While the Royal family may have been able to bury scandals in centuries past, they never had to deal with Twitter before.
You may have seen the hashtag #PrinceWilliamAffair or some variation of it on Wednesday. Confused? No, it’s not a shocking new revelation — it’s a bit of an older one that The Firm reportedly tried hard to kill in its tracks. But the internet never forgets.
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Before we get into the new accusations by angry commenters, a little background….
Back in 2019, a rumor that made the rounds in British high society for months finally found its way into a tabloid: Prince William had cheated on Kate Middleton.
According to the rumors, Will had an affair with Catherine’s good friend Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley (pronounced Chumley, btw). The former model is the wife of the Marquess of Cholmondeley, Lord Great Chamberlain David Rocksavage. Believe it or not, that’s all one person. The nobleman’s residence isn’t too far from Kensington Palace, and they attended public events together all the time. So in essence, we’re talking about the fancy English version of hooking up with the neighbor’s hot wife.
Here’s Rose with Kate on her IG about five and a half years back:
The fact it was cheating and with a friend? That’s bad enough. Even worse? The alleged affair was some time in late 2017, early 2018 — when the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant with Prince Louis. In case you forgot, pregnancy was pretty miserable for Kate, who suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition like morning sickness but ALL THE TIME. So Kate was hugging a toilet back home while William was apparently off using “the royal wee” with her chum.
Just awful, right?
Supposedly the word got around to Kate, who “confronted” William and was convinced enough that the Cambridges completely cut off the Cholmondeley socially.
Why did it take such a long time for a juicy rumor like that to see print? That’s one of the most interesting parts — see, the Palace traditionally doesn’t pay any mind to rumors. But this one they reportedly threw all their weight behind crushing it. In reference to Kate and Rose’s falling out, which was publicly observed, Times of London reporter Giles Coren confirmed on Twitter he’d heard it was an affair and that “everyone knows about” it — but quickly deleted the tweet, supposedly due to legal pressure. One publication even reportedly got issued a warning from the Royal family’s law firm, Harbottle and Lewis. Frankly, their response to this has been strikingly different from their gossip protocol. That in itself makes it seem more likely to us there’s truth to it.
Yep. They doth protest too much. In internet parlance, we call that the Streisand Effect.
VOTE: Do YOU Think The Prince William Affair Story Is True?
No confirmation ever came out about the affair, and it seemed like whatever pressure the Palace put on the press worked. Besides, after a few months there was a much bigger scandal in the offing: the one many referred to as “Megxit”.
Both before and after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry stepped away from their royal duties, the rumors about her simply covered the UK tabloids — almost as if the Palace was just fine with those. Or even encouraged them. Hmm…
Speaking of Meghan, it was her legal nemesis, the Daily Mail, that inadvertently kickstarted the resurgence in royal affair talk on Twitter. On Tuesday, editor Richard Eden tweeted:
“I genuinely worry that Prince Harry and #Meghan’s criticism of unnamed ‘racist’ royals has increased the danger of attacks on the #Royal Family. Security needs to be stepped up as a result”
This of course after fomenting resentment for Harry and Meghan by tweeting non-stop criticism of everything they did. Anyhoo, independent journalist Alex Tiffin responded with the bold claim that the media was really to blame for the “unnamed” part — suggesting they knew it was actually Prince William (!), and that they were somehow helping to cover it up, just like he thought they did with the affair! He wrote:
“Deputy Editor of race baiting newspaper trying to divert attention from the huge L in court. Also, I’d rather the media just named Prince William as the person in question, instead of pussy footing about it, like they did his affair with the Rose lassie.”
Whoa! He followed up with a nod to the pressures from the royal family not to mention the cheating, writing:
“PS. Injunctions from the High Court in London are worthless in Scotland, my residence and no amount of legal pressure is going to erase the fact Prince William had an affair with Rose Hanbury. Enjoy your evening.”
Savage.
He then claimed:
“Multiple UK news outlets have had evidence of the affair and his other comments, some even spoke of them on this site before legal threats saw them delete.”
Adding:
“A Royal shouldn’t be afforded extra protection from scrutiny than any other public figure. Journalists report, not handle”
Daaaaamn!
It was those brazen shots across the bow Tuesday evening that seems to have gotten the #PrinceWilliamAffair ball rolling. It wasn’t long before everyone on the internet was refreshing the dirty details. Not only that, people started tweeting previously unpublished details they’d heard — including that the affair went on for years, that Kate had fired assistants who knew about it, and more. Here’s a taste of the blisteringly hot royal tea:
So #princewilliamaffair is trending & all I'm saying is I heard about this way back in 2015. Two friends who work in the media have both told me they're aware of it but the UK press won't print it.
So yeah, I have no doubt Willy has been up to no good for a long time. ????
— Natasha Akhtar (@Natasha_Akhtar) December 29, 2021
The press injunction is what really made me look twice. Otherwise I would have thought #PrinceWilliamAffair was usual gossip. Turns out #PrinceWilliam is not only of the racists but of the adulterers too. He just can't seem to pick a lane . Charles' son through and through pic.twitter.com/OILsmvh68l
— Unnamed source ????Malaika (@MalaikaHelena) December 29, 2021
I have a question for #PrinceWilliam #kensingtonpalace Did my tax pay in any way for your injunction or lawyers which prevents the media from reporting on your affair(s)? I feel like I have a right to know that. #princewilliamaffair pic.twitter.com/y0zJPZ3Wsq
— Anna (@Anna__with_an_A) December 29, 2021
The bushes are pruned at least 3 times a week #princewilliam #PrinceWilliamAffair pic.twitter.com/F7j458N9hs
— Katrina (@goodkingharri) December 29, 2021
Who fires an aide right after her honeymoon? ????
This is why the #DuchessofCambridge is a willing participant in hiding #princewilliamaffair
When she found out he had taken an overseas trip, she fired the PA who organized it and blamed it on Meghan.
No sympathy.#PrinceWilliam pic.twitter.com/POAtmCDXUd— Alexis???????? (@ArchewellBaby) December 29, 2021
Meghan Markle's love of avocados, dark nail polish, closing her car door were deemed front page news by the UK press. #PrinceWilliam goes and has a full blown affair with his wife's "best friend" and …. nothing#PrinceWilliamsAffair
— Henry VIII (@SussexHenryVIII) December 29, 2021
Obviously we can’t corroborate any of this, not even the original cheating rumors. But the royals continue to treat this as a story that must be killed on sight. And that’s still meaningful.
What do YOU think about the Prince William rumor?? Why did the Palace try to crush it? Is it even worse than we know??
[Image via MEGA/WENN/Twitter.]
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