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Rose Hanbury, the neighbor of the Prince and Princess of Wales who was the subject of baseless rumors that she had an affair with Prince William, will attend the coronation, The Daily Beast understands.
Rose will likely attend not only because she is the spouse of David Cholmondeley (pronounced Chumley), 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, who has been named as King Charles’ Lord-in-Waiting, but also because her son, Oliver, has been named as one of the king’s pages, tasked with holding the robes of the king, alongside Prince George.
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A friend of the family told The Daily Beast: “There has never been any enmity between Kate and Rose. The rumors were all a load of rubbish. The family are ancient allies of the Crown and they will be there.”
Concurring with this view, another friend of the king and queen told The Daily Beast it would be “unimaginable” that David wouldn’t be at the coronation with his wife.
However, Buckingham Palace is not confirming individual RSVPs and did not respond to an email seeking confirmation of Rose’s attendance. An email on the matter to the estate address listed on the Houghton Hall website also went unreturned.
A Marquess (and his wife, a Marchioness) holds the fourth most senior rank in the British nobility (behind King/Queen, Prince/Princess, and Duke/Duchess). The Cholmondeleys are particularly notable, however, as they are hereditary co-holders of the office of Lord Great Chamberlain.
The role—which involves welcoming the monarch to the Houses of Parliament and dressing them for state events—alternates between the Cholmondeleys and the Carrington family with each change of reign.
This meant that David was Lord Great Chamberlain until the death of Elizabeth. However instead of being cast aside by the royals on Elizabeth’s death, he was named Lord-in-Waiting by the king, meaning he will be present at all important state and royal occasions and can even stand in for the king at diplomatic events.
He is only 62, and is likely to still be alive when Charles dies and the role of Lord Great Chamberlain reverts to his family. He is therefore likely to be William’s Lord Great Chamberlain when William accedes to the throne.
The Cholmondeleys are based at Houghton Hall, just a few miles across the fields from Anmer Hall, the country residence of Kate and William.
In 2019, The Daily Beast exclusively reported that royal lawyers were serving legal warnings on British outlets that reported incendiary rumors that William had an affair with Rose.
The Sun, Daily Mail, and Express all alleged that there had been a terrible argument between the friends but were guarded about what was portrayed as a mysterious root cause of the disagreement.
The Sun reported on March 22 that Kate viewed Rose as a “rural rival,” and had told William she must be “phased out” of their social set, as The Daily Beast reported at the time.
The Daily Mail tackled the issue by asking, “Does Kate have a rural rival?”
The Prince and Princess of Wales with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis attending the Easter Mattins Service at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, Britain April 9, 2023.
Yui Mok via ReutersHowever, the rumor exploded into the open when Giles Coren, a columnist for the London Times, responding to one of the Rose/Kate “feud” pieces, tweeted, “Yes, it is an affair. I haven’t read the piece but I know about the affair. Everyone knows about the affair, darling.”
The showbiz newsletter Popbitch then carried an item saying: “It can sometimes feel as if you need a PhD in cryptography to make sense of tabloid reports about the Royals. If you’ve been following the latest Kate Middleton hoo-hah but have been at a loss to understand what a ‘rural rivalry’ is, it’s Fleet Street’s way of hinting at the long-standing society rumor that Prince William has been caught” having an affair.
The suggestion was flatly denied by the Palace and by friends of Rose, but became hot gossip, not least because David and Rose were already known as a bohemian couple. He is a film director and actor, and is two decades older than Rose, a former model. They announced their engagement on June 23, 2009, married the next day, and their twin boys were born on Oct. 12 the same year.
