The Shady Side Of Rose Hanbury
Rose Hanbury, whose full title is Sarah Rose Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, found unexpected fame after rumors suggested she had an affair with Prince William. But her alleged connection to the Prince of Wales isn't the only alleged shady thing she has been called out for, with Hanbury and her husband, David Rocksavage, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, finding themselves in the headlines for a plethora of reasons.
Of course, it's unclear whether or not the rumors about Hanbury and William are true, with some royal experts suggesting otherwise. Of the scandal, royal author Omid Scobie told Entertainment Tonight, "Unfortunately, if a rumor's left to kind of do its own thing it can run 20 laps around the world before you even think about what, how you want to kind of address it." He continued, "They never addressed it, so those rumors will never go away even though there's no truth to suggest that they are true."
From her husband's questionable friendships to the unexplained origin of some of their home décor to rumors about her so-called connection to the royal family, there's much to know about the part of Hanbury's life that has inspired gossip.
Did she marry for money and status?
Rose Hanbury's family has always moved in similar circles to the British royal family. For instance, Hanbury's grandmother, Lady Elizabeth Mary Longman, served as a bridesmaid at Queen Elizabeth II's 1947 wedding to Prince Philip. Of course, Hanbury's proximity to the royals only grew after she married David Rocksavage, also known as David Cholmondeley, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley and the former Earl of Rocksavage. He also serves as a Lord-in-Waiting to King Charles III, which sometimes requires him to attend official royal events as the monarch's representative.
Hanbury reportedly first met her future husband in 2003 when they both attended a party at Villa Cetinale while vacationing separately in Italy. They didn't officially start dating until three years later, which may have had something to do with the age difference between them. Hanbury was reportedly just 19 years old when she met a 42-year-old Rocksavage, and their huge age gap likely raised some eyebrows, especially as the marquess was known as an eternal bachelor in social circles, whom some called "the greatest catch in England," per the Daily Mail.
On June 24, 2009, Hanbury and Rocksavage tied the knot in an extremely low-key ceremony at Chelsea Town Hall in London. Having only announced their engagement two days before their wedding, the couple caused quite a stir, which was only intensified by the revelation that Hanbury was also pregnant with twins at the time of their nuptials. The couple went on to have a total of three children; Alexander, Oliver, and Iris.
Rose and David were accused of owning stolen Chinese artifacts
In March 2024, Rose Hanbury had already been in the news cycle for her alleged relationship with Prince William, amid Kate Middleton's disappearance from the public eye. Hanbury found herself at the center of a new controversy when onlookers began questioning the origin of some of the décor in Houghton Hall, the home owned by her husband, David Cholmondeley, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. Pointing to photos of the couple taken inside their family home by Vanity Fair and the Financial Times, some eagle-eyed viewers on Chinese social media platforms suggested that the Cholmondeleys may allegedly have an array of rare, and potentially stolen, Chinese artifacts.
Sharing photos of the couple, one X user explained, "Unfortunately, people in China looked a little too closely at this photoshoot of the Marquis and Marchioness of Cholmondeley in their gorgeous stately home, and noticed that it's full of authentic Chinese furniture and artefacts that were stolen from China during the fall of the Qing dynasty."
The thread further summarized the online speculation that David allegedly inherited the items from his ancestors, which included the Sassoon family, although it's unclear how the pieces may have been acquired. The Sassoons became famous for building an incredibly successful business during the 19th century, which included working in China and India, selling items like opium and tea. If the items seen in the Cholmondeley family home were, indeed, acquired illegally, then Rose and David may have some answering to do.
Her husband's best friend is a convicted criminal
Rose Hanbury and her husband, David Rocksavage, managed to live a relatively quiet life until rumors of their connection to Prince William and Kate Middleton started making the headlines. After the Princess of Wales retreated from her official royal duties in early 2024, details about Hanbury and Rocksavage's private lives started being reported on more widely. This included the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley's close friendship with François-Marie Banier, a French artist who went to prison for financially exploiting French heiress Liliane Bettencourt, from whom he allegedly stole as much as $174 million. He was convicted in France for taking advantage of the elderly heiress and sentenced to almost three years in prison and to repay what he owed, eventually appealing for a suspended four-year sentence and a reduced fine.
Rocksavage and Banier are reportedly extremely close, with Banier even becoming the godfather of Hanbury and Rocksavage's twin sons, Oliver and Alexander. Upon learning of Rocksavage's friendship with Banier, many X users questioned the connection, particularly as the marquess and his wife are supposedly so close to the British royal family. One X user wrote, "Rose Hanbury's husband has been involved for years with François-Marie Banier, who swindled Liliane Bettencourt, the L'Oreal heiress out of millions. This could not get juicier."
Rumors of an affair with Prince William surfaced in 2019
On March 26, 2019, journalist Giles Coren replied to a post on X (via Cosmopolitan), suggesting that Prince William was having an affair with Rose Hanbury, which had led to the fight between Hanbury and Kate Middleton. Coren wrote in his since-deleted reply, "Yes. It is an affair. I haven't read the piece but I know about the affair. Everyone knows about the affair, darling." According to The Daily Beast, Coren may have been forced to remove his post after Prince William's legal team allegedly attempted to quiet rumors of an affair, but the damage was, presumably, already done.
InTouch (via The Daily Beast) shared even more rumors about the alleged affair between Hanbury and William in April 2019. According to the publication's sources, Kate heard the reports of the affair and asked her husband point blank if he was cheating on her, which he reportedly denied. However, the quick-spreading rumors were thrown into question after Hanbury attended Buckingham Palace in June 2019 for a state banquet alongside most of the royal family. Since then, she has been photographed at multiple events alongside Kate and William, making royal fans wonder whether there was any drama between them to begin with. Still, the rumors have caused a royal scandal that has never really died down.
She reportedly fell out with Kate Middleton
Rumors of an alleged affair between Prince William and Rose Hanbury amped up after it was reported that Hanbury was no longer friends with Kate Middleton after the pair was involved in an argument. In March 2019, The Sun (via Grazia) shared insight from a so-called source, who alleged, "It is well known that Kate and Rose have had a terrible falling out. They used to be close but that is not the case anymore." The source also suggested that Prince William was hoping to repair the fractured friendship between his spouse and their former next-door neighbor, but the Duchess of Cornwall was apparently less than enthused by the idea.
After Hanbury and her husband attended King Charles III's coronation in May 2023, onlookers wondered if she may have repaired her friendship with Kate. However, Richard Kay, the Daily Mail's royal expert, suggested that Kate and Hanbury had never ended their friendship in the first place, writing (via Cosmopolitan), "Both sides have considered legal action, but because none of the reports have been able to offer any evidence about what the so-called dispute is about, they have chosen to ignore it ... These hurtful rumors of a fallout are simply false." Whatever the truth of the matter is, it's clear affair rumors and tales of bitter feuds have certainly generated even more interest in Hanbury's life, especially when it comes to her relationship with Kate and William.
Rose's marriage was questioned when she went ring-less
Following rumors of extramarital relationships, Rose Hanbury and David Rocksavage's marriage was thrown into the spotlight and everything they did was suddenly analyzed. Speculation about the status of their romance only intensified after both Hanbury and Rocksavage were seen in public without their wedding rings.
In June 2019, The Irish Mail reported that Hanbury hadn't worn her wedding ring to an incredibly high-profile event, leading many to wonder if there were problems in her marriage. According to the publication, Hanbury didn't wear the important piece of jewelry while stepping out at Buckingham Palace for an official state banquet honoring a visit from then-U.S. president Donald Trump. As the event took place mere months after rumors first surfaced about an alleged affair between Hanbury and Prince William, it was speculated that the marchioness had purposefully taken her wedding ring off.
In June 2021, New Idea shared photos of Rocksavage without a wedding ring and reported that he doesn't usually wear one, like many other royal men. Whether the marquess forwent the tradition out of personal choice or due to another reason remained unclear. Regardless, Hanbury and Rocksavage's lack of wedding rings only inspired more conspiracy theories.
The affair rumors resurfaced in 2024
Five years after allegations first broke about a supposed tryst between Prince William and Rose Hanbury, rumors resurfaced after Kate Middleton stepped back from her public duties in early 2024. While it was later revealed that Kate disappeared due to a cancer diagnosis, the internet was ablaze with conspiracy theories, some of which included Hanbury. In particular, X was flooded with ideas about the situation, with one user writing, "Rose Hanbury is pregnant by William and keeping it, so Kate had a nervous breakdown and now is laying low/negotiating her divorce settlement. Which would explain both her disappearance and the soft launch of Rose."
In March 2024, the rumors reached dizzying heights when comedian Stephen Colbert made a lengthy joke on his late-night show about Hanbury and the prince's alleged affair. Hanbury seemingly couldn't ignore Colbert's comments, however, and her lawyers swiftly issued the host's team with a legal notice about the joke. Hanbury's lawyers also released a statement about the decision to contact Colbert, telling InTouch, "The rumor appears to have entered into the mainstream media recently as a result of another joke made about it on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.' We have written on our client's behalf to CBS and various other reputable media organizations to confirm that the allegation is false."