I’ve come to a conclusion about why the British tabloids are being so careful with HOW they report anything about Rose Hanbury. The pieces in The Sun and the Mail on Sunday are so carefully written, so meticulously cloying, sycophantic and fake-sympathetic towards Rose, my theory is that the editors believe that this is the only way they can talk around the alleged affair between Rose and Prince William. For this story to still be percolating in such major tabloids (the Sun and the Mail) months later, even after William’s lawyers issued massive threats, it just shows you that even the editors know that there’s something there. So they’re handling the story delicately and framing it as solely about Rose and HER marriage. The official storyline is that Rose is suffering because Kate – out of nowhere! – decided to phase out “rural rival” Rose, and now Rose’s life and marriage are in shambles. The Mail on Sunday picked up on the Sun’s reporting last week with a detailed account of their own – you can read it here. Some highlights:
Rose’s falling out with Kate: Once close friends, the two women are said to have become ever more estranged in recent months amid persistent gossip about Rose’s friendship with Prince William and Kate, which royal sources dismiss as ‘unsubstantiated rumours’. Rose’s confidantes describe her as ‘lonely’ and increasingly isolated, as those who know both her and Kate feel torn.
Royal advisors are helping: And the issue is causing such concern in Royal circles that Royal advisers have stepped in to help the Marquess and Marchioness with handling the media, advising them to say nothing, The Mail on Sunday understands.
Rose’s marriage is awful: Only adding to Rose’s distress is the frequent absence of her husband, fabulously rich film-maker the Marquess of Cholmondeley (pronounced Chumley), David Rocksavage, 58 – once described as ‘the greatest catch in England’. He is said to be spending more and more time with his own friends in Paris – including a controversial convicted criminal called Francois-Marie Banier – while Rose is left alone to run their magnificent country seat, 106-room Houghton Hall with its 1,000-acre estate bordering Sandringham.
People are worried about Rose: ‘People are worried about her. The most loyal friends are sticking by her but others, they haven’t,’ one source said. ‘It has caused her great distress to have suddenly found herself the talking point of everyone in the area. She is very aware about what is being said and she has tried to put a brave face on it. On top of that, she has a husband who is away more than he is present. It has been a lonely time.’
The Cambridges & Rocksavages were legitimately close: In years past, the Rocksavages were often guests of the Cambridges at their Norfolk home Anmer Hall, less than three miles from Houghton, as well as being guests at the Royal Wedding in 2011. Both had a standing invitation to Kate’s birthday weekend parties at Sandringham each January, which usually entail a shoot on the Saturday followed by an evening party, then a Sunday morning service at St Mary Magdalene Church with the Queen. Only Kate’s closest friends are invited to these get-togethers, along with her family. Other guests have included Sophie Carter, scion of a Norfolk construction family and godmother to Princess Charlotte.
The Cambridges skipped the Houghton horse trials this year: At Kate’s 35th birthday in 2017, Rose and David could be seen standing chatting to the Middleton parents. Rose was nowhere to be seen at the corresponding event this year, according to royal watchers. And neither were Kate and William seen at the Houghton International horse trials last month, where Zara Tindall was competing, despite Kate being pictured there the previous year with George and Charlotte.
Rose & David’s friends are sticking by them: Despite the rumours surrounding Rose’s friendship with William and Kate, many of her circle are loyally standing by her and refuse to believe it is anything more than gossip. ‘It’s been very hard on them,’ one friend said. ‘I know it has really upset them. I’ve spoken to David about it. There is absolutely no truth in it and it has been incredibly hard for them. Rose is a brilliant woman and she will get over it, but it has obviously affected her and has made her feel pilloried. It is not true, all nonsense, but she knows that it is very hard to say anything. She just has to wait until it all blows over. That is what the couple have been advised and that is all she can do.’ One royal source insisted the whole saga was simply ‘malicious gossip’ from someone ‘who appears to have an agenda to discredit William and Kate’.
Royal advisors are stepping in to help… ROSE? Rose, who is having problems because the Duchess of Cambridge has tried to shun her from Turnip Toff society and phase her out? Royal Kate, who will be Queen, doesn’t want to be anywhere near Rose and so… royal advisors are going to Rose and telling her not to say anything about it? What is this f–ked up aristocratic world?
And honestly, I love how we’re supposed to feel gutted for a well-connected, rich aristocrat’s wife who banged the future king (allegedly) and still gets to live in a palatial estate full of fantastic artwork and her three healthy and photogenic children. Rose is supposed to be distraught because Kate threw a tantrum? Nah. Rose is sympathetic because her older husband spends a lot of time in Paris? I mean, Rose probably prefers that. She has more free time for her affairs too. That’s simply the way it’s done. That’s probably why David spends so much time in Paris in the first place – to give his young wife the space and freedom to do what she wants. I don’t think that people get that this group really plays by their own set of rules.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
OMG this story is becoming huge. Yes, she and William are/were lovers
“One royal source insisted the whole saga was simply ‘malicious gossip’ from someone ‘who appears to have an agenda to discredit William and Kate’.”
Oh here we go. When people get caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing, one tactic I personally have seen employed is setting up kind of a straw person 3rd party. This person should be someone that easily will unite both camps in hate against them.
I wonder who this agenda-drive third person could be?
Gosh, what a conundrum!
We saw the… let’s say the more devout side of the Cambridge fandom using exactly this tactic when the story first started.
Ah. You think they are trying to implicate Meghan again?
Probably. I can’t wait to hear how exactly this too is all Meghan’s fault. *eyeroll*
I really don’t think they’re trying to blame Meghan. Why or how would she know about this? She and Harry have nothing to do with the Turnip Toff set. And she’s smart enough not to create trouble a few months into her marriage. There are plenty of more likely suspects. People point the finger at Charles but I think he loves his sons too much to blow this up. To me the more likely suspect is the York set. Charles has promised to make the royal household a lot smaller, and it’s no secret that Andrew is pissed.
The anti-Meghan press is so blatant these days that if they wanted to imply she was behind this, they would say it.
I will say, the next time someone starts squawking about Meghan adding bushes or taking away some parking spaces, they should be reminded of these “birthday weekends” Kate has. They sound very try-hard extravagant. Girlfriend has come a long way from her parents selling mail-order confetti. (Yes that sounds snotty but hey, whatever.)
@Mumbles – ooh the Yorks. That would be interesting. If Andrew is pissed at Charles, he could strike back against William. But ugh. this family sometimes.
Anyway, I think if it ever comes out (I know it wont, but IF it does) who was the source of the original “rural rival” story, it would be a big piece of this.
I want Rose to caption that top photo. That is all.
The aristos are closing ranks around their own. They simply don’t need a Diana mess again. Kate is not as powerful as Diana was.. in terms of press , popularity and people power. Diana’s charisma and kindness made her untouchable to a degree, she was also manipulative with the press etc. Kate doesn’t have the chops and William is not next in line to throne. He has years to whitewash behavior if a divorce, the dynamics are different.
We must have read two different articles.
I think the article is inconsistent. It says that people are torn (implying that some are siding with Rose, some with Kate) but then says that her friends are closing rank around her and many are standing by her. It’s like the reporter couldn’t decide which sounded better – Rose, isolated and alone, abandoned by her friends, or Rose, the queen bee of the Turnip Toffs, protected by her friends as the rumors rage.
Rose sounds like every trophy wife cliche after a few years of marriage/kids. Bored. Alone. Isolated. I wouldn’t want that life. Yes her family is connected/wealthy, but nowhere near the Rocksavages. But she has options…lose the house, gain some happiness elsewhere.
@Eliza But she has options…lose the house, gain some happiness elsewhere. Yeah, she worked for the Goves, no (British politician and his wife)? So she could always return to London and ‘work’ in the Tory party in terms of PR (like Boris Johnson’s SO), or be a lady of leisure rocking around Chelsea or Belgravia on divorce money. Rose has a lot more options than quite a few of us.
I agree. Rose is a pathetic cliché.
Why are you so quick to out her husband when there are many celebrities with gay rumors that you won’t even about acknowledge exist ( Bradley Cooper, Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, and Jeremy Renner)?
https://www.celebitchy.com/380386/john_travoltas_ex_lover_is_writing_a_tell-all_scandalous_or_everyone_knows_already_/
This whole story is getting weirder and weirder by the moment………I’m loving it. This is as good as it gets true gossip.
On another note, I do not believe there are any problems in Rose’s marriage in that it has not changed one iota since the day she has wed. Saying nothing is the absolutely BEST THING Rose & David Cholmondeley could do other than showing up at hand-in-hand in London for a date night dinner at Chiltern Firehouse.
I agree I don’t think the problems are in the Chumley marriage, they both have reps for being a bit bohemian and independent people. This is deflection from which couple has the real problems, the press are pretty much saying this and that W&K are living separate lives. They always have to be honest, their relationship was always on his terms and always based on when he wanted to spend time with her.
Its interesting that there are parts of the press that are still reporting on this, they know that its all over social media and blogs like this. There is a story, we all know it and at some point the lid is going to come off it. The press wouldn’t keep talking about it if they knew it wasn’t true, why would they exposes themselves to litigation. William would never have gotten his lawyers involved if it were just gossip. He only gets his lawyers involved is he has something to hide.
“William would never have gotten his lawyers involved if it were just gossip. He only gets his lawyers involved is he has something to hide.”
Not really. William had every right to take legal action,or preventive action. Even if it’s just gossip,it’s damaging gossip if tabloids start to fuel speculation. It’s not difficult to imagine where The sun was going with the rivalry gossip. Above all,if rumors (rivalry,possible reasons for the rivalry) were
Indeed curculating.
William has a right to stop libellous comments, but his letter was about vague human rights violations based on EU laws that may no longer apply shortly. Any lawyer will tell you that they had to stretch to make that apply to this situation and it only happened because William has to power to get that done. A regular person wouldn’t be able to do that. It is a dangerous road in a democracy to give someone the power to shut down the media on a story because it hurts their image.
@Nic919, This is exactly what Donald Chump tries to do each and every day. The courts in the USA will not allow it due to 1st Amendment Rights so he uses twitter to try to bully with his “power” (real and/or imagined) whether it is about lies or the truth.
“William has a right to stop libellous comments, but his letter was about vague human rights violations based on EU laws that may no longer apply shortly.”
But nobody printed any comments that was objectively “libellous” . It’s why I say he took preventive action,IF the daily beast was indeed telling the truth. Everyone uses bits and pieces of exclusives and stories as facts when they suit the favorite narrative.
So,IF the daily beast is right,that was probably the only way to get ahead of damaging (for his family and two private citizens) speculation. I don’t blame him.
@BayTampaBay, I agree. This gossip has been quite tasty. I don’t think either marriage is in any real danger, though.
Some points:
Rose’s posture is dreadful and she looks cowed and unsure
Kate looks predatory in the first photo like she’s saying through gritted teeth; back off beyatch and leave my hubby alone
William looks as sheepish, guilty and embarrassed as Denver the Guilty Dog ie GUILTY AS CHARGED.
Conclusion: Yes Rose and Will have been lovers!
My thoughts exactly. Never was there a more telling body language and expression than on those three.
I think Kate’s smile is dual: (1) I’m the higher up/got the man (catbird smile) and (2) keeping up appearances in public (sweet smile).
That photo is from a couple of years ago, so it’s probably not the best body language example for a scandal that apparently cropped up while Kate was pregnant with Louis.
The photo maybe a few years old, but I think both Rose and William are very much aware of his shenanigans.. The weird side eye William is giving Kate. His body language shows no pleasure in being with his darling wife, but what is new ?
Denver!!!!!!!!
This is the tabloids’ way of suggesting that the royal courtiers are covering for William, imo. They are trying to force something to happen since they have nothing else to add to the story.
Soo in the aristo circles a woman is not allowed to throw tantrums when she discover her husband infidelities.
That’s exactly how it works and traditionally once the first two sons were born (the heir and the spare), the wife had exactly the same options. It’s why Diana got so little sympathy from the aristocracy – she grew up in exactly the same culture and her behaviour (actually objecting to Charles’ mistresses) was seen as bizarre. As far as her peers were concerned she had the title, the children and the lifestyle so what was she complaining about? It’s why she went to the press – she knew most of the U.K. didn’t see things that way even if her friends and family did.
Diana also did not get sympathy because she herself was engaging in the same behavior as Charles. Not long after the spare came along, she too had taken on a lover. Perhaps her behavior was seen as bizarre because she adhered to the “tradition” but at the same time tried to get sympathy and portray herself as a victim. I am in the camp that believes that her motivation for going to the press had more to do with her trying to manage her image than actually her shining a light on aristo morals.
So it seems that Kate was successful in convincing the Toffs to phase out Rose? Is she no longer on the private invitations to teas and birthdays? That has got to sting. Rose if you are talking to the Mail please share the details!
That’s another good point!
I said on the other post that I didn’t think Kate was successful. Maybe the only invites Rose is missing out on are Kate’s birthday events.
But, even for that – we are back to the original story. If there was no affair, what happened that there was a falling out of such magnitude that it made its way to the papers? Especially if these two weren’t really friends? Why would someone be reporting on a falling out between Kate and Rose Hanbury? People don’t actually care who Kate hangs out with on weekends. If the whole thing started with a tiff over chutney, then someone seriously miscalculated the reaction to the gossip.
If these are just malicious rumors, and there is no truth to them, why would anyone have to choose between Kate and Rose? I can see why the TTs and others would be gossiping, and that would be hurtful, but if someone told me that my good friend was sleeping with my husband, I would laugh in their face because I would know it wasn’t true.
If there is zero truth to these rumors, and they are just rumors started to discredit Will and Kate, why would that cause a rift between Kate and Rose to the extent that the TTs have to choose between them?
Is this really how it’s done with the aristos? Still? I mean, I know having kids is important to pass along the title/lands/whatever, but really? I guess… I don’t really feel sorry for Rose, she must have gone into this knowing what the arrangement would be. However, I don’t think anyone really knows how it’s actually going to feel (your husband is off in Paris the majority of the time with someone else, in his “sumptuous” home) until you’re neck deep in it. And how many ~affairs can you have? Honest question- at some point doesn’t it just get exhausting? And don’t you run out of people willing or even wanting to have an affair with you, and then you’re just a cliche. Bored, lonely, rich wife with uninterested husband. Surely, in 2019, this isn’t how it’s still “done” by aristos? And what about the kids? Does David bother to spend time with his three kids while he’s jetting off to Paris?
I doubt it. Yes, these people live very different lives from the rest of us and so it’s easy to ascribe a different set of values to them for gossip sake. I would hope none of us would be salivating in hopes of intimate details regarding an affair between our neighbors, coworkers or family members, no one would say the Sunday school teacher knew what she signed up for etc. but if we give them a different set of rules it makes the speculation a little less dirty.
I say this as someone who voraciously consumes gossip here several times a day and loves the tin foil tiara theories !!
No wonder children are sent to boarding school 9 months of the year.
Rose being advised to say nothing means they know She is the source of the leaks and stories. They are telling her – knock it off.
This is the narrative that makes sense. We did NOT phase you out (see: Trump State Dinner) – but if you say one more word to a discrete journalist you will be.
Huh, interesting take. Veiled threat from the palace. What would the palace do to strike back at Rose though, if she were to continue to talk. . David Rocksavage’s position as high up aristo seems unassailable.
So, no new information after all this time, now we are going to get the poor Rose angle to see if it shakes someone’s lips loose.
I see it as a two prong tactic, use the Chumley marriage to keep the story alive and hope that one of the players or adjacent will give up some details in defense.
Like the detail about William and Rose having dinners together when Kate is out of town. It sounds like someone let that slip and when it got published, was very quickly taken out. but now its out there.
Or it was completely unsubstantiated and therefore removed? Or it was bait to keep the story alive or an attempt to provoke a response? Or they were actual dinner parties with other attendees sans Kate.
Or they were straight up shag sessions?
So many options.
I want to know all the attendees at these dinner parties. I think there’s a guest who was at the center of all of this.
I doubt it could have been substanciated in any case. But since they removed the whole part about a “Rose’s pal” dating that these rumors have got out of hand and started with nothing,it’s likely this was Rose’s camp letting people know that she did nothing wrong and she’s a victim of hurtful rumors too. But it didn’t come across as intended and it looked like Rose was indeed babbling to the Sun , so they got a lawyer’s notice.
Didn’t that detail come from Rose’s brother during a loose-lipped evening of drinking?
@notasugarhere Her brother let it slip that she was aware of the rumors. The other quotes come from a “Rose’s pal” who told them that Rose is hurt by the gossip,that it got out of hand,etc..
Was it Lainey that reported the Sun’s original story from Rose’s brother, which mentioned Will and Rose’s dinners together while Kate was “away”? That story was edited almost immediately, but there are receipts. Slowly the truth is dribbling out.
THIS new little nugget from Daily Beast’s Royalist: “A source tells The Daily Beast that the rumors of an affair started after William was observed to be going on frequent walks from his home on the Sandringham estate, during which he would sometimes meet up with his neighbor, doing the same, as their lands adjoin.”
…so more than just “suppers”.
The Rocksavage estate is 1000 acres. No idea how much land K&W have, but we are going to assume a few acres anyway. Yet somehow in an area bigger than 1000 football fields, they still manage to bump into each other. Damn what a coincidence.
@Lady D, Amazing coincidence is it not??? LOL! LOL! Taking a walk I do not believe. Riding a horse maybe but not taking a long walk! LOL! LOL!
@Bay – it makes me think that what I have thought is true, and what I think Digital Unicorn said above is true – there is some sort of proof (ie pictures), and they are laying the groundwork to discredit it. They are such good friends, they have dinner alone when Kate is away! They meet randomly on their estates and go for walks! That’s all! Situation normal!!!!
And all these big estates have follies and grottoes and all sorts of little buildings scattered throughout the estate. Many of them purposely built to facilitate affairs between rich aristos who were “just going for an innocent walk about the estate.” Imagine if Will and Rose are meeting up in some old Victorian “Temple of Love” pastiche folly.
What really gets me is that all this supposedly took place at Anmer Hall. When was Bill Cambridge at Anmer Hall without Cathy? I thought Anmer Hall is Cathy’s favorite home which she prefers to KP in London.
I would have more ability to believe this “innocent” stuff if this affair was supposed to have occurred at the London Homes of the Turnip Toffs as it easier to accidentally run into someone in London than it is on an adjoining 1000 acre Norfolk estate.
The more I read and think about this whole story the weirder it gets.
Having looked at Google maps there is quite a distance between the two properties, for walking anyway, plus a couple of roads…. Not so simples as to “bump” into each other me thinks….
If Kate is in London during the week while the kids are at school, William could be away in Norfolk at Anmer or having suppers with Rose.
Whoa this is quite the nugget.
Oh dear. From “one or two suppers” to “meeting up” at the boundary of their not-so-small properties, these little drips of new info are not painting the best picture for William.
I have to say, ever since the state dinner, the British press seems to have had a big shift in approaching this story. Two months ago they were loath to even mention Rose’s name again, and now we’ve gotten about two weeks’ worth of stories about the ‘rural rivalry’. In these past few days we’re even getting some details on Will and Rose’s interactions. I’m wondering: why the sudden change?
I wonder the same. It could be as simple as clicks to web pages. I wonder if pictures of Rose from the state dinner generated more interest in the rumors so these articles are getting more attention. Or if the gossip mags are using her appearance there as a jumping off point – “look who was there! oh lets revisit the gossip from a few months ago.” etc. They are writing about the rumors without writing about the rumor itself, which is a pretty clever way to avoid William’s threats.
Maybe Rose gave more detail to the tabloids?
@nic – you’re thinking to that woman she walked in with? (I forget the name.)
Would love to more about Rose’s husband, David Rocksavage Cholmondeley. All of the newer stuff I have been able to dig up on the internet is just re-stating of stuff that is years old.
The palace is deflecting from the really issue which is cracks in the Cambridge marriage. Put all the focus on Rose and her lonely life with a husband playing around in Paris.
Rose better wise up and realize she is being played by the palace.
This story is a mess. I agree the story can’t decide which angle to take. Is Rose’s marriage suffering due to the allegations of the affair or because her husband spends a lot of time in Paris? I seriously doubt her marriage is suffering at all. The only marriage that seems to be having issues and needs rededication is the Cambridges. There is seriously a whiff of where there’s smoke, there’s fire to all of these stories. William has mismanaged this story since its early days. It would not have gotten this much attention if he had stayed out of it and allowed it to die as rumors do. I really wonder if Rose is being used as the shield to the real mistress and she did leak all of this to get back at both William & Kate for dragging her into this mess.
Rose looks like Heather Matarazzo, before the plastic surgery.
What’s “controversial” about Banier, the fact that he’s gay? His “convicted criminal” record is all very white-collar stuff. Fun factoid; he is also Lily-Rose Depp’s godfather.
But his “white-collar stuff” is still crime at the end of the day.
@Beach Dreams, you are correct but this dude is not pedophile like a friend of someone we know,
I think one on the points Starkiller is trying to make is that David Rocksavage ran with and still runs with people in the highest levels of the film industry in Europe and the to some degree the USA.
Taking advantage of an old lady is pretty shitty, besides being a crime.