This royal rumour was everywhere. Now it's being erased from the internet.

A new royal scandal about an old royal scandal has arrived in response to speculation that Prince William had an affair. 

It's the rumour that Prince William had an alleged affair with Kate Middleton's former bestie, Rose Hanbury, aka the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. 

Yes, we're still talking about this. And yes, the title 'Marchioness of Cholmondeley' never fails to make me giggle. Stephen Colbert even referred to Rose as "the Marcus Mumford of Chumbawamba" earlier this year. Sounds about right!

For those playing at home, Rose's husband David Rocksavage is titled the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, with the couple being longtime pals of the Windsors. 

How did the Rose Hanbury and Prince William scandal begin?

It all started in 2019 when The Sun reported there had been a "terrible falling-out" between Catherine and Rose, as writer Dan Wootton quoted a source saying the women "used to be close but that is not the case anymore." 

The next month, rumours went into overdrive that the cause of the feud was Rose allegedly having an affair with William, with the speculation fronting the cover of InTouch magazine and the pages of Radar Online. It was a rumour vehemently denied by Hanbury at a later stage.

Despite the media stories of a fracture between the families, both Hanbury and her husband have since made several appearances at royal events alongside the Duke and Duchess of Wales. Their eldest child, Oliver, was even a page of honour at the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla in 2023.

What has happened with the Rose Hanbury and Prince William scandal now?

The drama lay dormant for a few years until it surfaced again in 2024.

Due to questions over The Duchess of Wales' whereabouts circulating in March, there was increased speculation about whether or not Prince William's alleged affair could have caused her to step away from public duties. 

This was, of course, refuted by Middleton who confirmed she had been diagnosed with cancer, which explained her lengthy absence from royal duties. 

Hanbury also stepped in to silence her critics. In a statement delivered through her lawyers, Hanbury said "the rumours are completely false" while Kensington Palace declined to comment. 

This brings us to today, where an investigation by Vulture has uncovered that multiple articles that made claims about the alleged rumour have mysteriously disappeared. Not to mention, any reference to a feud between Kate and Rose. 

Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Rose Cholmondeley in 2016. Image: Getty.

The Sun article, which broke the scandal back in 2019, has been removed along with 20 other stories. An additional six other stories have been edited to remove information. 

"The mysterious individuals in charge of removing stories didn’t do a great job cleaning up after themselves," Vulture's royal correspondent Ellie Hall writes. 

"Broken links to these vanished stories still exist in each publication's royal coverage from this timeframe and, in many cases, on these outlets' official social-media accounts."

The pop culture site noted that media outlets who have deleted stories are all based in the UK, ranging from tabloids like Tatler, The Daily Mail, The Sun and Daily Express, to more prestigious legacy titles like the Evening Standard, The Mirror and The Guardian. 

So what is happening?

It's hard to know for sure but according to a Daily Beast story from April 2019, royal lawyers have a history of sending strongly worded letters to media outlets to discourage them from reporting on these rumours. 

Has some lawyer from The Firm been tasked with getting articles taken down? Stay tuned because when it comes to royal conspiracies, I'm all over it. 

Feature image: Getty.