A Key Witness Pours Cold Water on the William-Rose Rumors. Will People Finally Listen?
New evidence from Giles Coren exposes the flaws of parroting unsubstantiated Royal Tea
A story is only as believable as its source. This is Journalism 101. When disseminating rumors taken the mouths of people who are not credible, humble pie is on the menu.
Staunch believers of the “Prince William had an affair” story were dealt a massive blow yesterday. The witness to this supposed affair, Giles Coren, doubled down on being nothing but a satiric a-hole when discussing the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
To understand how big of a deal this is, you have to start from the beginning. Which is why I’ve decided to make one of my most popular posts “Princess Catherine Goes Raving with the Cholmondeleys” open to free subscribers and readers everywhere!:
From the post - August 16, 2020:
I’ve been wanting to dig into this topic for months but hadn’t been able to find the time. Lots has been gossiped about regarding the marriage of Prince William and Catherine, the Princess of Wales (aka Kate Middleton). For what seems likes years (but really just since 2019) there has been so much gossip and hearsay about the couple. Is there any credence to the rumors of a supposed affair with Rose Hanbury? Borrow some scuba gear and dive deep into the bowels of Twitter and TikTok, you’ll find conspiracy theories about Prince William being the father of one of Rose’s children and his predilections for sex toys. Utter nonsense.
This Monday’s story by the Mail’s Diary Editor, Richard Eden said the Princess of Wales had dinner with the Cholmondeley couple at their home and later went to a rave on their property. To me, this indicates, among other things, the rumor was likely created by a hungry press salivating over a potential repeat of the heyday of Diana vCamilla. And it’s been kept alive by a certain fan-base’s desire to think they know what goes on inside and outside of the Wales bedroom. Let’s break down the origin of this rumor, parse out the credible from the unbelievable, and look at all the ways Princess Catherine and Lady Rose have sneakily signaled that there was no truth to this rumor. This will be a very long post filled with photos, screen grabs and Royal Tea. Enjoy!
Who is Rose Hanbury?
Sarah Rose Hanbury is married to David Cholmondeley, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley who holds the role of Lord Great Chamberlain. They have been married since 2009 and have three children: Twin boys Alexander Hugh George Cholmondeley, Lord Oliver Timothy George Cholmondeley and a daughter, Lady Iris Marina Aline Cholmondeley. Their ancestral seat is Houghton Hall located in Norfolk which is near the Prince and Princess of Wales’s country home Anmer Hall.
A Growing Friendship
In July of 2016, the Cholmondeleys hosted a dinner fundraising gala for one of the Princess’s patronages, EACH Children’s Hospices at Houghton Hall. From the photos taken that evening, a great time was had by all.
The Wales’s are not known to attend private events like this for their patronages so it was a testament to their burgeoning friendship with the Cholmondeleys that they RSVP’d as the guests of honor.
The couple’s friendship grew and Rose, as the wife of the Lord Great Chamberlain, was invited to the Spanish State Banquet held at Buckingham Palace on July 12, 2017. She was escorted and seated next to Prince Harry.
The Start of the Rumors
In March of 2019, Dan Wooten a scummy journalist for The Sun, wrote about a “fallout” between Princess Kate and Rose.
The detail of Wooten writing this story is very important. In one of those bowels of Twitter I alluded to, the conspiracy goes that Wooten is in cahoots with the Wales’s! If anyone has reason to not like Wooten or collaborate with him, it’s the Wales’s. Prince William has cut out friends for being disloyal and had a front seat view to his mother attempting to court the press (Diana regularly hosted reporters in her private apartments at Kensington Palace and collaborated with them on stories).
Details of the story included quotes attributed to Rose’s brother about the “affair” and saying David was gay. The denial was swift. Rose’s brother threatened to sue for libel and slander and the article was yanked down. And Prince William also threatened legal action against the article. It’s important to remember that Rose Hanbury and her brother are private citizens. So legal actions they put forth were absolutely necessary and warranted. This wasn’t just a “rumor” that affects members of the Royal Family, who are in the public sphere and essentially (for better or worse) regarded as “public property”. The Cholmondeleys are an innocent family whose lives were turned upside down over ridiculous rumors that were not able to pass the legal test.
Sources? Says who?
Shortly after the stories were pulled, the Wales’s and the Cholmondeleys attempted to put forward a united front. Three years after throwing the charity dinner, Rose became an official patron of EACH Hospices in April of 2019 and was there to oversee construction of the new Hospice Center.
But more rumors by way of gossip columnists with no ties to either party reared its head. Enter Nicole Cliffe, Giles Coren and the merry band of “reporters” who were going to “break the story wide open”.
To read the rest of this story, click here or the story below.
Princess Catherine Goes Raving with the Cholmondeleys
Hello Dear Readers! I’ve been wanting to dig into this topic for months but hadn’t been able to find the time. Lots has been gossiped about regarding the marriage of Prince William and Catherine, the Princess of Wales. For what seems likes years (but really just since 2019) there has been so much gossip and hearsay about the couple. Is there any credence to the rumors of a supposed affair with
I have made it open for everyone to read for the next few weeks and it details the shoddy sources and reporting that debunks this story. Once you’ve finished reading, come back here to read the updates:
Updates 10/14:
Now that you have the full story (please please please read Princess Catherine Goes Raving with the Cholmondeleys), lets get to today’s update!
It all started when Daily Mail reporter Richard Eden shared a story stating Coren “was under investigation” by police for verbally abusing his neighbor at night over a parking disagreement outside their homes. Coren quoted Eden’s tweet and called him a liar.
They tussled back and forth with Eden accusing Coren of “abuse” and Coren accusing Eden of “publishing lies about me and family”.
It was the “lies about me and my family” that set off protestations from Wales supporters. And they went after him hard for his hypocrisy:
“I didn’t make up a lie”.
“Don’t be silly”.
“It was a stupid joke HOW IN THE WORLD could I possibly know anything about the private life of at the royal family!!”
“You’re really make yourself look so so silly pretending to think I am some sort of royal source”.
“I’ve retracted it twice! It was SATIRE!”
In defense of Coren, he’s actually made clear over the years that he was just mouthing off for attention. The problem is the people who took him at his word in 2019 are resolutely sticking their fingers in their ears.
Amusing isn’t it? Those who swear by this story and have Coren down at Witness #1 for the affair don’t want to listen to him anymore. Subscribers of this “affair” story entered the realm of pure speculation in March of 2019 based on the words of self-described charlatan and refuse to leave. A consequence of exiting said realm means they have to admit they were wrong.
The online fervor to rake the Wales’s marriage over the coals in the defense of the Harry and Meghan made Sussex supporters amplify the words of racist and offensive idiot. An idiot who is telling them over and over that what they believed in so strongly was all based on a lie.
I mentioned in my “Princess Catherine Goes Raving with the Cholmondeleys” story that well-connected and trustworthy Royal historians and reporters have repeatedly stated there was no truth to this rumor. I’d like to add famous Royal researcher Tom Quinn’s, author of Gilded Age, take to the mix:
“No one is suggesting Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley (pronounced Chumley), was part of this group, but unfounded rumours about a rift between her and Kate certainly led to speculation – again entirely false – that Hanbury had had an affair with William. With the disaster of his parents’ own marriage and their affairs still very much in the public mind, William must always be seen to have a perfect or near perfect marriage, so any rumours about affairs are highly dangerous. Suddenly cold-shouldering a former friend about whom there is speculation of sexual impropriety becomes a risky issue in itself, as it may seem to confirm something that has never happened.”
So I end this newsletter how I began it in the first place:
A story is only as believable as its source. This is Journalism 101. When disseminating rumors taken the mouths of people who are not credible, humble pie is on the menu.
Tom Quinn, Robert Lacey, Valentine Low and Tina Brown will always be more credible than Giles Coren. Coren has admitted he made up the story of Prince William having an affair. He admits it’s complete fiction and now, defending himself, he says it was a joke. “Satire”. Coren should issue an apology to Rose Hanbury and Prince William for the scurrilous lie which supporters of Harry and Meghan keep posting on the internet.
-Lady Sinclair