Oh God, Kate Middleton Is Supposedly Feuding With Someone Who's NOT Meghan Markle Now
Kate Middleton has zero time for rumors. The Duchess of Cambridge and a fellow friendly English noble, Rose Hanbury, have been the topic of tabloid headlines lately. The tabloids have been reporting that Kate and Hanbury have an intense rivalry going on following a bitter fallout, but sources close to the royal family say there is no merit to these rumors, and the fact that they exist is actually upsetting the Duchess. So who is Rose Hanbury? How did these rumors even start in the first place? Elite Daily reached out to Kensington Palace for comment on the reports, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Hanbury is the Marchioness of Cholmondeley (try saying that 10 times fast). She's married to David Rocksavage, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and they have three children, according to the Daily Mail — two sons, Alexander and Oliver, and a daughter, Iris. Alexander and Oliver reportedly are friends with Prince George. The Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley know the royal family because they're also English nobility. They have a home in Norfolk, Houghton Hall, which is in the same neighborhood as Prince William and Kate's Amner Hall, and Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire.
Hanbury and her husband were both at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding in 2011 as guests of Queen Elizabeth, and Hanbury's family ties to the royal family seem to have started in 1947, when, Hanbury's grandmother, Lady Rose Lambert, was a bridesmaid in Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's wedding. Kate and Hanbury are also both patrons of East Anglia Children’s Hospice and the two couples have reportedly gone on double dates in the past, so these two have been running in the same circles for ages.
Now, tabloids in the U.K. have been reporting that the two women have had a bad falling out, calling Hanbury Kate's "rural rival" (WTF?) and claiming that the Duchess has asked William to "phase her out" of their social circles.
Royal reporter Richard Kay says all of this is bullsh*t, though, adding that the royal family and Hanbury's camp has reportedly "considered legal action" in order to shut down the baseless rumors. The oddest thing about these tabloid rumors is that they don't detail what actually caused the so-called "feud." Kay says this is the reason legal action hasn't been taken.
A source close to the family told Kay, "These hurtful rumors of a fall-out are simply false. William and David were in touch with each other over the weekend, not knowing whether to laugh or complain. Both wives are hurt by the suggestion that there is any argument or even a coolness between them. They have plans for future events involving their charity."
"This is a question of a lie going round the world before the truth has even had time to take its boots off," the source continued.
A friend of Hanbury's told Kay that at first, the two couples thought nothing of the rumors, but their concern is growing.
"It has now become very upsetting and they are all concerned for each other, as they have never before had to start denying something for which there is no evidence or even a smidgen of truth," they said. "It is just mad."
"David and Rose have been to Sandringham and shot with William and Kate," they continued, "but they have been to each other’s houses fewer than three times each — some rift!"
This is... all very weird. It sounds like the rumors are just tabloid fodder, though, so let's take them with a grain of salt.
