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The Marchioness of Cholmondeley issued a firm denial to other media outlets as well—before Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis made news.
She may be an English Rose, but Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, is no wilting flower. The noblewoman sent a legal notice to late-night host Stephen Colbert after he made on-air quips earlier this month about a rumored affair between Hanbury and Prince William, linking it to the widespread speculation around the whereabouts of William’s wife, Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales.
The comments, as well as the news of Hanbury’s legal threat, came before the Friday revelation that Kate has been diagnosed with cancer and is receiving treatment.
During the episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert that aired on March 12, Colbert joked about past rumors of an affair between William and Hanbury, who has been married since June 2009 and is the mother of three children.
“The kingdom has been all aflutter by the seeming disappearance of Kate Middleton. Well, now internet sleuths are guessing that Kate’s absence may be related to her husband and the future king of England, William, having an affair,” Colbert said. “So I think we all know who the alleged other woman is. Say it with me: the Marchioness of Cholmondeley—what a beautiful name!”
He also referred to her as the “Marching Band of Chicanery” and the “Marcus Mumford of Chumbawamba” in a play on her title.
Legal representatives for Hanbury confirmed in a statement to In Touch that they’d contacted the show about the comments.
“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.”
In mid-March, Hanbury, through a statement from her legal team, denied the affair to Business Insider, saying that “the rumors are completely false.”
Back in 2019, reports of a falling-out between Kate and Hanbury raised eyebrows, though any social drama was never confirmed. According to the Daily Beast, William’s legal team contacted at least one British publication and threatened legal action after it published gossipy details of the rumors.
On Friday, Kate shared an update via a video posted to Kensington Palace’s official social media accounts. The Princess of Wales has been diagnosed with cancer and said she is in the “early stages” of chemotherapy.
Elsewhere, Hanbury isn’t just in the news for the rehashing of rumors about her marital life—her home decor is also being reexamined. According to Time, some items that can be spotted in photos of Hanbury’s home, the estate Houghton Hall, have been called out on social media for possibly being stolen Chinese artifacts, at least some of which were reportedly inherited by Hanbury’s husband, David Rocksavage. In 2013, Vanity Fair took a look inside the historic estate.
Representatives for Hanbury and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert did not immediately respond to requests for comment.