Wales Divorce Imminent? Marital Rumors Surrounding Prince William and Kate Middleton Are 'Concerning'

Rumors about Prince William's alleged affair with aristocrat Rose Hanbury have resurfaced in the wake of Catherine, Princess of Wales' Mother's Day photoshop scandal. Despite the future queen's ongoing convalescence from surgery, some think that it has all been a smokescreen to cover for a divorce between the next monarch and his consort.

Her Royal Highness has been mired down in a "shroud of secrecy" ever since her "planned" but sudden abdominal surgery on January 16. The princess refused to reveal what caused the need for the operation, and conspiracies have been forming in a whirlwind ever since.

The Sunday, March 10, photograph she released has caused a media sensation due to its "heavily edited" distortions, which the princess took the blame for. This is despite an announcement that claimed the Prince of Wales took the photo of his wife and three children.

This led veteran royal historian Hugo Vickers to share with an outlet: "This photograph is meant to reassure us that the Princess of Wales is well. If it is manipulated, it does pose a question."

"It's a pity," he added. "We have lost confidence in the photo. It is meant to reassure us but there have been doubts raised and we are all worried about it."

The mainstream media also decided to take part in the ongoing "Where's Kate?" hashtag that has trended on social media, with several conspiracy theories, for weeks now. The Late Show's Stephen Colbert incited a firestorm of controversy when he joked about an old rumor that insinuated the future king had an affair with Hanbury in 2019.

This was further picked up on by Daily Mail's Sarah Vine who suggested that Kate's absence of a wedding ring in the Mother's Day picture was a sign of marital trouble. The article featured the caption: "It's true that she doesn't always wear the diamond and sapphire engagement ring, for obvious reasons. But her wedding band? When has the Princess of Wales ever been seen without that?"

As for her spouse and Hanbury, some insiders claim that Kate, the then-Duchess of Cambridge, had suspected for quite a while in 2019 that something might be afoot between her husband and Rose, who's part of Kate's close-knit community of wealthy landowners known as the "Turnip Toffs."

"When they had dinner parties, apparently Kate noticed some flirting," said an insider in November 2023. "It's not that surprising — William's easy on the eyes. And so is Rose. Wife of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. William wouldn't be human if he didn't notice her," said the insider.

"He's accustomed to having women throw themselves at him due to his wealth, title and status, and he ignores it. But with Rose, it seems to be different," the source concluded.

Newsweek reported on the insider revelations.