All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, StyleCaster may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
The royal rumor mill never stops, and this time, the internet’s latest obsession is the identity of Rose Hanbury’s daughter’s father and what happened between her and Prince William all those years ago.
Hanbury, whose full name is Sarah Rose Cholmondeley, is the Marchioness of Cholmondeley and wife of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. Hanbury and Cholmondeley married at Chelsea Town Hall in London on June 24, 2009—just two days after announcing their engagement. The couple went on to have three children: twin sons Alexander Hugh George Cholmondeley and Oliver Timothy George Cholmondeley, and daughter Lady Iris Marina Aline Cholmondeley.
Hanbury, for her part, is the daughter of website designer Timothy Hanbury and fashion designer Emma Hanbury. Her sister, Marina, is also of noble association. She’s the third wife of Edward Lambton, the 7th Earl of Durham. The Marquess and Marchioness were also close friends with the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince William and Kate Middleton, and even attended attended Prince Philip’s 2022 memorial service as well as numerous other royal events.
Who’s Rose Hanbury’s daughter’s father?
Who’s Rose Hanbury’s daughter’s father? Hanbury’s daughter Lady Iris Marina Aline Cholmondeley’s dad is her husband, David Cholmondeley, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. Iris, who was born in March 2016, is the youngest of Hanbury and Cholmondeley’s three children. Along with Iris, Hanbury and Cholmondeley also share twin sons Earle of Rocksavage Alexander Hugh George Cholmondeley and Lord Oliver Timothy George Cholmondeley who were both born on October 12, 2009.
In March 2019, rumors swirled that Prince William, a close friend of the Marquess and Marchioness, had cheated on his wife, Kate Middleton, with Hanbury, who had an alleged fallout with Middleton. There were also rumors that Hanbury’s daughter, Iris, is actually William’s child, though those claims seem to be unfounded. While neither William nor Hanbury have ever addressed the rumors, royal expert Omid Scobie told Entertainment Tonight in 2023 that he considered writing more about the drama in his royal biography, Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival
, however, as the affair allegations were never confirmed. “I was very careful in the book to really focus on this, as the allegations against William, Kate’s and their fallout with Rose Hanbury,” Scobie said. “For legal reasons, there are so many things that one can’t go into.”
He continued: “But, I thought it was really important [to mention], even if a rumor is a rumor. And I really don’t see proof that there is more to this than just a tittle-tattle, you know.”
He added that, because William and Kate “never addressed” the affair rumor with Hannbury, it will likely “never go away,” however, that doesn’t mean that the story is true. “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 said. “They never addressed it, so those rumors will never go away even though there’s no truth to suggest that they are true.”
Scobie also claimed that Kensington Palace feared the rumors would “impact negatively on William’s reputation” and alleged that the Firm used Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s exit from the British royal family that year as a way to divert attention from the gossip. “[The rumors] trend on Twitter on a regular basis,” Scobie said. “That’s something that’s incredibly damaging, I think, for William.” He continued, “It probably looks even worse, actually, that there was a kind of willingness to throw Harry under the bus simply to make these things disappear.”
While William and Kate have never responded to the rumors, a source told Us Weekly in 2019 that the speculation motivated them to work on their marriage. “It forced her and William to sit back and examine their relationship, which they realized they should have been doing more often,” the source said.
Scobie also confirmed that the Hanbury drama brought William and Kate closer together, calling the Prince and Princess of Wales’ marriage a true “partnership” and “lifetime commitment.” A source also told Us Weekly in 2023 that William and Kate are “more in sync than ever.” The insider continued, “They cherish what they have with each other. For them, family comes first, and it always will.”
Rumors of William and Hanbury’s affair resurface in March 2024 after Kate posted an Instagram photo without her wedding ring. The picture, which was taken by William and posted for Mother’s Day on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ official Instagram account, showed Kate with her and William’s three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. The post was also the first photo of Kate since her mysterious abdominal surgery in January 2024. “Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day. C,” Kate captioned the photo.
After the post, many fans commented on Kate’s missing wedding ring. “Where’s her wedding ring? William hasn’t been wearing his either 🤔👀” a user commented. Another user wrote, “It is strange that she is not wearing her wedding ring… especially for this photo that they had to release to stop the rumours… they wouldn’t miss that detail… it is either an old photo that wasn’t taken to release for this purpose or something up with their marriage…” One more user commented on how the photo looked AI-generated (more on that later). “But where’s the wedding ring in that fake AI hand? 🧐,” the user wrote.
Other users, however, defended William and Kate, explaining that Kate likely wasn’t wearing her wedding ring to be more comfortable after her recent surgery. “I think people need to get a life. She’s recently had surgery and recovered. Like many of us we take our photo and filter them. I’m sure there’s lots of married that don’t always wear there wedding ring. I think it’s a beautiful family photo,” one user wrote. Another commented, “I think some people need a bit of common sense and a little bit of respect. She’s had surgery… Anyone else probably wouldn’t be looking their best. So an older photo has been edited and used. So what. Their Xmas photos are taken months in advance. The palace have said time and time again she would not be back to official engagements until after Easter. Prince William does not wear a wedding ring. Princess Catherine does, however this could be covered through the editing process for whatever reason or taken off after recovering from her surgery. Can everyone chill out and stop loosing their minds? Personally I am more concerned about King Charles and his actual diagnosed illness.”
Along with speculation around her missing wedding ring, Kate was also accused of editing the photo, which featured several errors, such as Louis’ missing fingers. Kate admitted to altering the photo in a tweet at the time.
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day,” Kate wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) on March 11 following claims she edited her Mother’s Day photo. A source told People at the time that Kate made “minor adjustments” to the “amateur, family photograph taken by the Prince of Wales” and that the couple’s intention was to “to offer an informal picture of the family together for Mother’s Day,” The source also confirmed that William and Kate were still together. “The family spent Mother’s Day together and had a wonderful day,” the insider said.
For more on the British royal family, check out Endgame by Omid Scobie. Endgame, the explosive book from longtime royal journalist Omid Scobie and author of the international blockbuster Finding Freedom, is a penetrating investigation into the current state of the British monarchy—an unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to dangerous lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family.”
Queen Elizabeth II’s death ruptured the already-fractured foundations of the House of Windsor—and dismantled the protective shield around it. With an institution long plagued by antiquated ideas around race, class and money, the monarchy and those who prop it up are now exposed and at odds with a rapidly modernizing world. Relying on his vast experience as a royal reporter and over a decade of conversations and interviews with current and former Palace staff, trusted friends of the royals and even the family members themselves, Scobie pulls back the curtain on an institution in turmoil to show what the monarchy must change in order to survive.
