Over the past 40 years or so, affairs and rumors of affairs have become a key component of the coverage of the British royal family. A lot of the hottest tea doesn't come out until well after the fact, though.
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00:00:00Over the past 40 years or so, affairs and rumors of affairs have become a key component of the
00:00:05coverage of the British royal family. A lot of the hottest tea doesn't come out until well after
00:00:09the fact, though. You've no doubt heard of Prince William's alleged affair with Rose Hanbury.
00:00:15The royal scandal has been plastered all over tabloids since early 2019,
00:00:20but are the rumors about Kate Middleton's husband really true?
00:00:23The news of William's supposed affair with Rose Hanbury was first reported in April 2019,
00:00:29but rumors of infidelity started circulating before then. According to reports, Prince
00:00:34William's alleged affair unfolded when his wife, Kate Middleton, was pregnant with their third
00:00:39child, Prince Louis, who was born on April 23, 2018. If true, this means that by the time the
00:00:45press picked up on the potential scandal, at least a year had passed since the alleged affair took
00:00:50place. An anonymous source told InTouch that when confronted by his wife, William just laughed it
00:00:56off, saying there was nothing to it. As for whether there really was trouble in paradise,
00:01:01InTouch's source told the magazine,
00:01:03"...they come across as a perfect couple who can do no wrong. But the reality is,
00:01:07most couples have their issues, and William and Kate are no different."
00:01:11The relationship between Prince William and Kate Middleton goes back to the early 2000s.
00:01:16The pair became friends their first year at the University of St. Andrews in 2001,
00:01:22and by 2003, the pair had begun dating. In 2007, Kate and William hit a rough patch and
00:01:28briefly split up. While they were on a break, it was insinuated that Prince William wasn't
00:01:33serious about Middleton, and that he wasn't ready to settle down yet. An anonymous source told the
00:01:38Daily Mail,
00:01:39"...he has always had a roving eye, far more so than Harry, who was meant to be the family playboy.
00:01:44That's something Kate has always known and accepted. It was part of the deal, if you like.
00:01:48I suppose in that respect, she would have made a perfect Princess of Wales."
00:01:53In spite of the rumors, the prince got back together with Kate just a couple of months
00:01:57after the split.
00:01:58"...I, William Arthur Philip Louis…"
00:01:59"...take thee, Catherine Elizabeth…"
00:02:01"...take thee, Catherine Elizabeth…"
00:02:02"...to my wedded wife."
00:02:03"...to my wedded wife."
00:02:05Before the scandal erupted, Rose Hanbury and Kate Middleton seemed to be friendly.
00:02:10A 2016 article by Hello! Magazine described Hanbury as the duchess' friend,
00:02:15and revealed that Hanbury and her husband David, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley,
00:02:19lived just three miles away from Kate and William's Norfolk residence, Anmer Hall.
00:02:24Before the rumored affair, the two couples were said to be quite close,
00:02:27setting up playdates for their children, and even attending weddings together. A source told The Sun,
00:02:33"...William and David's backgrounds are similar, while Kate and Rose's lives were at similar points."
00:02:38Apparently, Hanbury and the duchess bonded over their love of organic food,
00:02:43and frequently talked about parenting. They also reportedly enjoyed many dinner parties together.
00:02:49Although Prince William reportedly denied having an affair with Rose Hanbury when
00:02:53confronted about the rumors, Kate Middleton allegedly took action. The Duchess of Cambridge
00:02:58is said to have told her husband to stop associating with the Hanburys altogether.
00:03:03A source reportedly told In Touch,
00:03:05"...Kate sees their friendship in an entirely different light now."
00:03:08The Sun also claimed that the rift between the two women went much deeper,
00:03:12with a source alleging,
00:03:13"...it is well known that Kate and Rose have had a terrible falling out.
00:03:17They used to be close, but that is not the case anymore. William wants to play peacemaker so the
00:03:22two couples can remain friends given they live so close to each other and share many mutual friends."
00:03:27But Kate has been clear that she doesn't want to see them anymore,
00:03:30and wants William to phase them out, despite their social status.
00:03:35After In Touch broke the news of the rumored affair, other publications reported that the
00:03:39royal marriage was struggling, but that there was no chance of the couple divorcing.
00:03:44Some might interpret the couple's decision to stay together as proof that nothing happened,
00:03:48or that Middleton had forgiven her husband. Others, however, might think that the pair
00:03:53stayed together because of Queen Elizabeth II's desire to avoid any more scandals in the family.
00:03:58In 2006, the Sunday Express reported that according to a palace aide,
00:04:03the queen allegedly told her grandson to choose his bride carefully because there
00:04:07had been too many royal divorces. If the conversation really happened, the queen
00:04:12was likely referring to the divorce of Prince William's own parents, Prince Charles and Princess
00:04:17Diana. Only one of Queen Elizabeth's children, Prince Edward, has remained married to his first
00:04:23spouse. Even though Prince William is said to have denied the rumors, his lawyers threatened
00:04:28legal action against the media outlets spreading them. The Daily Beast reported that after the
00:04:33press broke the news of the alleged affair, at least one British publication was served a warning
00:04:38by a law firm working on behalf of the royal family. According to the site, the warning said,
00:04:44In addition to being false and highly damaging, the publication of false speculation in respect
00:04:49of our client's private life also constitutes a breach of his privacy pursuant to Article 8 of
00:04:54the European Convention to Human Rights. Former royal editor of The Sun, Duncan Larkham,
00:05:00told the Daily Beast,
00:05:01The use of a legal letter by William as a future king is very much a move of last resort. If the
00:05:07stories of Kate freezing Rose out are true, then whatever caused the falling out must have been
00:05:12very serious. While traditionally, the British royal family would not take specific legal action,
00:05:17William and Harry are willing to do it their own way.
00:05:21The seemingly solid relationship between Prince William and Kate Middleton makes it hard to
00:05:25believe that he would ever cheat. With a beautiful wife and three gorgeous kids,
00:05:30the prince looks like he is living in an actual fairy tale. However, Rose Hanbury's life might
00:05:35not be quite as charmed. While Kate and William are close in age and have known each other since
00:05:40their youth, Hanbury's husband is much older. The 23-year age difference even puts them in
00:05:46different generations, as Hanbury is a millennial while her husband is a boomer.
00:05:50It also means that their marriage is statistically more likely to end in divorce.
00:05:55Of their marriage, a source told The Sun,
00:05:57David Chumley let it slip when he had been drinking that Rose is aware of what people
00:06:02are saying about her and William, and it seems Rose's marriage has less romance these days.
00:06:07He's much older than her and they have different interests.
00:06:11In June 2019, new life was breathed into the affair rumors when Hanbury appeared with her
00:06:16husband at a state banquet for Donald Trump at Buckingham Palace. But the couple's joint
00:06:21appearance was called into question as Hanbury wasn't wearing her wedding ring.
00:06:25A source allegedly told the Daily Mail,
00:06:27People are worried about her. The most loyal friends are sticking by her, but others,
00:06:32they haven't. On top of that, she has a husband who is away more than he is present.
00:06:37It has been a lonely time. While it's possible that Hanbury has been having marital problems,
00:06:42she might also have been getting her ring resized or cleaned.
00:06:46Before she became part of Kate Middleton's circle of friends, Rose Hanbury worked as a model and
00:06:51was signed to Storm, the same agency that discovered Kate Moss. According to Hello!
00:06:56Magazine, Hanbury got married in 2009 when she was pregnant with her first child.
00:07:01At the time of their marriage, David Chumley was considered to be one of the most eligible
00:07:06bachelors in England. And while Hanbury obtained the title of Martianess through marriage,
00:07:11she already had aristocratic roots. Her grandmother was close friends with Prince
00:07:15William's grandmother, the Queen, and served as a bridesmaid at the monarch's 1947 wedding
00:07:21to Prince Philip, according to People. While Hanbury wasn't part of the wedding party when
00:07:25Prince William got married in 2011, she was apparently present at the royal event.
00:07:31I think we'll take it one step at a time. We'll sort of get over the marriage thing
00:07:33first and then maybe look at the kids.
00:07:35According to the Daily Mail, the friendship between the two couples goes even deeper than
00:07:39playdates and dinner parties. And Rose Hanbury and Kate Middleton aren't the only ones who were
00:07:44said to have enjoyed a close personal friendship. Prince William and David Chumley were also
00:07:49reportedly quite close before the rumored rift. In fact, Chumley's relationship with the royal family
00:07:55goes back even further than his ties with the prince, though. The Marquess is also a close
00:07:59friend of William's father, Prince Charles. Plus, he has an important connection to the Queen.
00:08:05At age 14, Chumley was awarded the title of Page of Honor by Queen Elizabeth II,
00:08:10and he also serves as the Lord Great Chamberlain,
00:08:13which carries official royal responsibilities each year.
00:08:17It's quite likely that the gossip about an affair is nothing more than a vicious rumor
00:08:22that has spiraled out of control. And this wouldn't be the first time the tabloids have
00:08:26tried to pit Rose Hanbury and Kate Middleton against each other. In 2016,
00:08:30the Daily Mail even implied that the friends were frenemies, suggesting that Hanbury's
00:08:35lavish lifestyle might make her even more worthy of envy than the Duchess of Cambridge.
00:08:40However, in March 2019, shortly before the press published rumors of the affair,
00:08:45one source told The Sun,
00:08:47"[These hurtful rumors of a fallout are simply false. William and David were in
00:08:51touch with each other over the weekend, not knowing whether to laugh or complain."
00:08:56Both wives are hurt by the suggestion that there is any argument or even a coolness between them.
00:09:01They have plans for future events involving their charity.
00:09:04Meanwhile, a source told the Daily Mail,
00:09:06"[Both couples laughed when it was first carelessly put around and endlessly repeated,
00:09:11even though it was patently not true. As more and more people passed it on,
00:09:15it took on a life of its own and has now become hurtful and toxic."
00:09:20According to one report, Kate Middleton doesn't actually believe the rumors of her husband's
00:09:25infidelity. In fact, it's even been suggested that the Duchess of Cambridge has been distancing
00:09:30herself from Rose Hanbury simply to put any rumors to rest and not give the press any
00:09:35opportunities to photograph them together. An anonymous source told Hollywood Life,
00:09:40"[Kate and William generally ignore these sorts of nasty rumors,
00:09:43but this one has really rocked them. That's why lawyers are involved.
00:09:47The rumor is so ugly and so false, they couldn't just ignore it. And it doesn't
00:09:51hurt them. They are very concerned for Rose. She's a married woman with children,
00:09:56and she's not used to this kind of public scrutiny. She's a friend of not only Kate's,
00:10:00but also the entire family, so this is upsetting for everyone."
00:10:05The source also made it clear that the Duchess of Cambridge has pretty thick skin when it comes
00:10:09to rumors in the press, and told Hollywood Life,
00:10:12"[Luckily, Kate's extraordinarily strong. She's so good at rising above these kinds of things.
00:10:17She trusts William and doesn't want to give the rumors any attention."
00:10:21Aside from Prince William's lawyers warning the press to back off, the royal family has remained
00:10:27quiet about the speculated affair, as well as the alleged rift between Rose Hanbury and Kate
00:10:32Middleton. Hanbury's family is also refusing to add fuel to the rumors and has been avoiding the
00:10:37press. Just before the news broke of the alleged affair, the Scottish Mail on Sunday asked Hanbury's
00:10:43parents about the rumored royal rift. Hanbury's father reportedly told the publication,
00:10:48"...nothing to say about it. Got no comment. There is no comment."
00:10:52Rose has kept quiet when it comes to the affair rumors. However,
00:10:55a representative for the Chumleys said in a statement to the International Business Times,
00:11:00"...there is no foundation to any of the tabloid articles that have appeared.
00:11:04There is nothing else to say whatsoever."
00:11:06Considering the fact that Rose attended church with Kate and William in early 2020,
00:11:11it would seem that the former friends have put their differences aside,
00:11:14but we'll probably never know the truth about Prince William's alleged relationship with Rose
00:11:19Hanbury. What exactly is Camilligate? What inappropriate things did Prince Charles say
00:11:27about Camilla Parker Bowles' pants? And how did Princess Diana react to the scandal?
00:11:33Before they exchanged sordid comments down a telephone line, Prince Charles and Camilla
00:11:38Parker Bowles were just two young people in love. The prince reportedly first met Camilla Shand
00:11:44at a polo match in 1970. The two started dating, but it's unclear how serious the relationship
00:11:50was meant to be. At the time, Camilla was reportedly hoping to get back at her ex-boyfriend,
00:11:56Andrew Parker Bowles, who had been linked to Charles' sister, Princess Anne.
00:12:01During an appearance at Henley Literary Festival, royal biographer Penny Junor explained,
00:12:08So, when Camilla was introduced to Charles, he thought she was a bit of alright, and she thought
00:12:15Andrew is at the moment off with Princess Anne. I'll teach Andrew a lesson. Sadly, Camilla and
00:12:21Charles split up when the prince went out on an assignment with the Royal Navy.
00:12:26After their breakup, Prince Charles and Camilla ended up married to other people.
00:12:31After marrying on July 4th, 1973, Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles welcomed two children
00:12:38together, Tom and Laura. Meanwhile, Prince Charles first met Princess Diana in 1977,
00:12:45while he was dating her older sister. Charles and Diana started dating in July 1980,
00:12:57and the prince proposed in February 1981. The pair married on July 29th, 1981, in a wedding
00:13:05that was televised to 750 million people worldwide. They went on to have two children together,
00:13:12Princes William and Harry. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles reportedly rekindled their
00:13:17affair around 1986. In Andrew Morton's biography, Diana, Her True Story in Her Own Words, the
00:13:25princess revealed that she became aware of the relationship and decided to confront Camilla
00:13:31about it. As Diana told Morton, I said, I know what's going on between you and Charles,
00:13:37and I just want you to know that. And she said, oh, it's not a cloak and dagger situation. However,
00:13:45an illicit phone call between Charles and Camilla would quickly make their affair very public.
00:13:52In 1989, Charles and Camilla were secretly recorded engaging in a very intimate phone call.
00:13:59The recording seemed to make it clear that Charles and Camilla were in a sexual relationship
00:14:05that had been going on for some time. In an uncomfortable exchange, Charles even told Camilla
00:14:11that he'd like to become a pair of trousers or a tampon so that he could be closer to her.
00:14:18When a transcript of the phone call leaked to the press a few years later,
00:14:22it pretty much put an end to both of their marriages. Howard Hodgson, author of Charles,
00:14:28The Man Who Will Be King, revealed that the prince feared he would never live the scandal down,
00:14:33writing, he knows that people not sympathetic to him or the monarchy will recall it at the
00:14:39time of his coronation and at all other meaningful moments in his life. As a result,
00:14:46Charles reportedly continues to be plagued by how the scandal has impacted his family members,
00:14:52with Hodgson revealing in his biography of the prince, he remains deeply ashamed of the
00:14:58embarrassment that he caused his mother, deeply sorry for the pain it caused both his and Camilla's
00:15:03children. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles could not go anywhere without seeing stories about
00:15:10their infamous phone call for weeks following the release of the transcripts in 1993. At the time,
00:15:17the Los Angeles Times even speculated that the phone call could prevent Charles from ascending
00:15:22the throne following his mother's reign. It was reported that Camilla and Charles sounded as if
00:15:28they had been conducting their relationship for years at the time of the recording, which only
00:15:32further fueled speculation. However, the release of the transcript pointed to a much bigger issue,
00:15:39with some suggesting that the monarchy itself might be unknowingly under surveillance.
00:15:44Discussing the incident, Lord Rees-Mogg told the BBC,
00:15:48I think one has to ask whether it was done as part of the security screening and whether what
00:15:54has happened is that the royal family were being taped as part of MI5's security service operation.
00:16:01Following the release of the raunchy phone call, it wasn't long before Charles and Camilla
00:16:06decided to end their respective marriages for good. In January 1995, Camilla and Andrew Parker
00:16:12Bowles shared a joint statement announcing their separation. Meanwhile, Prince Charles and Princess
00:16:18Diana had announced their separation in December 1992, though their royal divorce took much longer
00:16:24to work through. At the time, a statement from Buckingham Palace said, The fact is that, with
00:16:30great sadness, they have recognized that their continuing relationship would be better under
00:16:35separate domestic arrangements. They are still fond of one another and fully supportive of one
00:16:40another's intentions to fulfill their individual public duties as wholeheartedly as before.
00:16:51Charles and Diana's divorce was finalized on August 28, 1996. In the divorce settlement,
00:16:58Princess Diana reportedly received a lump-sum payment of approximately $22.5 million,
00:17:06in addition to $600,000 per year for the maintenance of her office.
00:17:12Following his divorce from Princess Diana, Prince Charles took his relationship with Camilla Parker
00:17:17Bowles from the phone line to the public eye. In 1997, the pair celebrated Camilla's 50th birthday
00:17:24with a big party at Charles' home, and their romance was anything but secret.
00:17:30However, tragedy struck on August 31, 1997, when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris.
00:17:39Her sudden death shocked people all over the globe. While the world mourned Princess Diana,
00:17:46Charles and Camilla tried to keep their relationship under wraps. After keeping
00:17:51a relatively low profile, The Guardian reported in 1998 that Camilla had been introduced to
00:17:58Charles' sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. However, the Queen didn't warm to Camilla quite
00:18:05as quickly, and she was reportedly unhappy when Camilla threw Charles his 50th birthday party.
00:18:11Eventually, everyone seemed to come around to the idea of Charles and Camilla as a couple,
00:18:16and they married in April 2005. But no one's ever forgotten that fated phone call.
00:18:24Do Prince William and Kate really want to move into this house?
00:18:28A royal sex scandal from 70 years ago still haunts the place. Kensington Palace has confirmed
00:18:34Catherine Middleton and Prince William's move to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor. Some people
00:18:40are livid with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge about their choice of new home.
00:18:44The chief executive for the UK organisation Republic called their move to Adelaide Cottage
00:18:49disgraceful, seeing as the new residence will be the couple's fourth home.
00:18:54This isn't the first time Adelaide Cottage has created negative headlines for the royal family,
00:19:00though. It turns out that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's new home has ties to Queen Elizabeth's
00:19:06sister, Princess Margaret, as well. Adelaide Cottage is a grace and favour home,
00:19:11which means the British monarch owns it. The monarch can allow a resident to live in the home
00:19:17rent-free or at a lower cost. This is done as a part of the resident's employment package,
00:19:22or as a reward for their service to the crown. Reports that the Cambridges are downsizing by
00:19:28moving to their new home in Windsor, as Adelaide Cottage only has four bedrooms and is listed
00:19:34as a grade two property. While it may be smaller, Adelaide Cottage has a rich history.
00:19:39William IV built Adelaide Cottage in 1831 as a getaway for his wife, Queen Adelaide. It was later
00:19:46occupied by RAF Captain Peter Townsend, along with his wife and two children. Townsend's name may be
00:19:53familiar to royal fans. He was a war hero and equerry to King George VI. However, it was
00:20:00Townsend's relationship with Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth's younger sister, that he's
00:20:06probably best known for today, as it created some royal drama. Townsend lived at the cottage with
00:20:12his wife and two sons until his divorce in 1952. It was after the divorce that Princess Margaret
00:20:19and the dashing Townsend carried on their secret affair at Adelaide Cottage. It was very racy for
00:20:26the Princess and Townsend to use the grace and favour home as their love nest. According to
00:20:31People, rumours of the affair between the Princess and Townsend became public after Queen Elizabeth's
00:20:36coronation in 1953, where a reporter caught Margaret picking a bit of fluff off Townsend's jacket,
00:20:44a very intimate gesture. Furthermore, Town & Country reported it wasn't just Townsend's divorce
00:20:50that made him unsuitable for Margaret. It was the fact that he was also 16 years older than the
00:20:56Princess. It was a divorce he couldn't even enter the royal enclosure at Royal Ascot, never mind
00:21:00marry a royal princess. It was it was just unheard of, unthinkable. The outlet also reported that
00:21:07Margaret and Townsend fell for each other after his divorce and after the death of Margaret's
00:21:12father, George VI. However, the truth about Margaret's affair with Townsend and Adelaide
00:21:18Cottage didn't come out till later. The Daily Mail reported that Margaret and Townsend fell in love
00:21:24during the royal family's state tour of South Africa in 1947. At the time, the Princess was
00:21:30just 17 and the former pilot was 32. Margaret tagged along on the South Africa trip, which
00:21:37included the King, Queen and, then, Princess Elizabeth. Since Margaret was just a teenager at
00:21:43the time, Townsend was assigned to chaperone her as part of his official duties. According to the
00:21:49Daily Mail, Peter and Margaret were in each other's company each day. The Daily Mail also
00:21:55noted that the Princess would later tell one of her friends,
00:21:58We rode together every morning in that wonderful country, in marvellous weather.
00:22:02That's when I really fell in love with him. In the 2017 biography, Mom Darling, 99 Glimpses of
00:22:09Princess Margaret, Craig Brown wrote that the Princess and Townsend started seeing each other
00:22:14when Townsend was still married with two sons. Brown also claimed that Townsend had asked for
00:22:20a room next to the Princess during a royal event in Northern Ireland. It goes without saying that
00:22:26a teenager falling in love with a married father of two, who is twice her age, would be shocking
00:22:32even in today's tabloids. It's no wonder Princess Margaret's love affair with Townsend was such a
00:22:38huge tabloid story over half a century ago.
00:22:42Between family intrigue and lavish public affairs, Princess Diana rarely experienced a dull moment.
00:22:49But when it came to her passionate affair with writing instructor James Hewitt,
00:22:53she just couldn't rein it in. Princess Diana led a very public life as soon as she got engaged to
00:22:59Prince Charles. In fact, Diana, dubbed the People's Princess, was unmatched in celebrity
00:23:04in the years following her superstar wedding. To say that people were obsessed with her would
00:23:09be a massive understatement, but that doesn't mean she didn't have some secrets. For instance,
00:23:14when she first met Major James Hewitt, who would later become her lover, she would still take it.
00:23:19Princess Diana married Prince Charles at St. Paul's Cathedral on July 29th,
00:23:231981, and their wedding was a monumental event. But marriage to one of the most powerful men
00:23:29in the world didn't stop Diana from falling for Hewitt. The pair met five years after the wedding
00:23:35in 1986, and since Diana was a huge public figure, Hewitt obviously knew that she was married when
00:23:41they met. Of course, when it comes to affairs of the heart, nothing is off-limits. Despite the fact
00:23:47that Princess Diana was obviously married to Prince Charles when she first met Major James
00:23:52Hewitt at a party in 1986, the two reportedly had an instant connection. While they didn't
00:23:58immediately begin the affair, they both felt destined to care for one another from the start,
00:24:03as their feelings developed on a far deeper level than just physical attraction.
00:24:07Diana's Royal Protection Officer, Ken Wharfe, wrote about the first meeting in his book,
00:24:12Diana, Closely Guarded Secret, and it sounds pretty intense. Their first conversation felt
00:24:18natural, she said, and it was this that sparked her attraction. As she put it, they got along
00:24:24In fact, after they first met, Diana and Hewitt immediately arranged to meet again.
00:24:29They couldn't get enough of each other. Now, it's no secret that Diana's marriage to Charles
00:24:33wasn't exactly sunshine and roses, but still, her decision to get involved with another partner was,
00:24:39no doubt, a significant one. The early conversation between Princess Diana and
00:24:44Major James Hewitt wasn't as scintillating as one might expect. Instead, it was about...horses?
00:24:50As Ken Wharfe describes in his book, Diana, Closely Guarded Secret, he told her he was a
00:24:55riding instructor, and when she confessed she was afraid of horses, offered to help her overcome her
00:25:01fear. Diana spent more time with Hewitt as he taught her how to ride, and the affair took off
00:25:06from there. Hewitt was reportedly very charming, and honestly, who wouldn't fall for their stunning
00:25:12horse-riding teacher? However, while Diana and Hewitt's relationship may have been the stuff of
00:25:16housewife fantasies, it wasn't all physical. Describing the nature of their affair in his book
00:25:22Diana, Her True Story in Her Own Words, royal biographer Andrew Morton writes that Hewitt
00:25:28"...provided Diana with amusing and sympathetic companionship at a time when she needed a
00:25:33shoulder to lean on because of her husband's neglect." Naturally, a relationship blossomed.
00:25:39Though Princess Diana and Major James Hewitt started spending time together when he gave her
00:25:44riding lessons, Hewitt wasn't the one who initiated their physical relationship. As it
00:25:49turns out, Diana made the first move, and made her feelings towards Hewitt crystal clear. In her book,
00:25:55The Diana Chronicles, Tina Brown details exactly how Hewitt's friendship with Diana turned into
00:26:01a romance. She made the first overture by reaching to kiss him when they were alone in the officer's
00:26:06mess, telling him,
00:26:07"...I need you. You give me strength. I can't stand it when I'm not with you."
00:26:12From beginning to end, it was Diana who ran this affair. Though the two shared a spark from
00:26:17the get-go, it was definitely Diana who decided to take things to the next level, and from there,
00:26:22the affair quickly heated up. Though Netflix's The Crown touches on Princess Diana's affair
00:26:27with Major James Hewitt, you may be surprised to learn that it wasn't the only relationship
00:26:32the British royal had. Diana reportedly engaged in two more love affairs while married to Charles.
00:26:38"...But Diana, Aunt Margot tells me at Kensington Palace it's like a revolving door."
00:26:43Between 1984 and 1986, Diana allegedly had a torrid affair with one of her bodyguards,
00:26:49Barry Manicke, who was described by Tina Brown as being, quote,
00:26:53"...handsome in a blokey way."
00:26:56Toward the end of the 1980s, Diana also engaged in an alleged affair with her former childhood
00:27:01friend, James Gilbey. Obviously, only Diana and those involved could speak to the truth of those
00:27:06romances. But as Princess Diana and Prince Charles had a rocky relationship from the start,
00:27:12it would be far from shocking to imagine that Diana had multiple relationships.
00:27:17As shocking as it might seem to non-royals, affairs were not uncommon in the British royal family,
00:27:22at least in Prince Charles' day. Not only were people in close social circles aware
00:27:26that Princess Diana and Major James Hewitt were together, but Diana's own husband knew
00:27:31all about it, too.
00:27:33I know about the stable boy. Hewitt is his name, correct?"
00:27:37Author Anna Pasternak alleged in an essay for the Daily Mail that Prince Charles was hardly
00:27:42fazed at all. It surprised me that Hewitt was a fan of Prince Charles' with whom he played polo.
00:27:48As is de rigueur in aristocratic circles, Charles knew of and welcomed their affair
00:27:53as it distracted Diana, taking pressure off him and Camilla. Yep, while Diana was in a
00:27:58relationship with Hewitt, Charles was also in a relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles,
00:28:03whom he ended up marrying after Diana's death. Perhaps because he was so consumed by his own
00:28:08affair, it's clear that Charles was far more inclined to let Diana have her new fairy tale.
00:28:13The relationship between Diana and Hewitt became slightly complicated when he was sent abroad for
00:28:18work, as he was given command of a tank squadron in the late 80s. Obviously, Princess Diana was
00:28:23heartbroken that Hewitt left town, but the two actually stayed in touch via love letters.
00:28:29Indeed, Diana and Hewitt shared some steamy love notes. For the most part,
00:28:33Diana's letters to Hewitt were sweet and a little sultry.
00:28:36There's a surprise coming out to you, hopefully a nice one, something I hope you'll like. If not,
00:28:42I want it back. There is nothing like whetting your appetite. But there seems to be evidence
00:28:46that Diana sent Hewitt some naughty mail, too. Another parcel sent away this morning,
00:28:51filthy card included. Clearly, the pair shared some intimate moments and kept it
00:28:55going via letter-writing, proving their ongoing dedication to one another.
00:29:00Despite the speculation and rumor that circulated regarding Princess Diana's
00:29:04relationship with Major James Hewitt, the pair shared more than just a steamy rendezvous.
00:29:10Diana and Hewitt were reportedly truly in love for a time, and though it didn't last long,
00:29:15it's safe to say it was pretty intense while it was going on.
00:29:18In an exclusive 2017 interview with Sunday Night, Hewitt talked about the affair and his
00:29:23leftover feelings for the most celebrated royal in history. When asked to describe
00:29:29what it was like to fall in love with Diana, he said,
00:29:32"'Cause it's over a gradual period, and then, you know, suddenly you can't,
00:29:38you know, get enough of each other."
00:29:40Hewitt also revealed how the two would spend their time together,
00:29:43and it sounded remarkably simple, comfortable, and lovely.
00:29:47"'Well, I'd cook and she'd wash up. Just dinner and relaxing and laughing.'"
00:29:54While things between Diana and Hewitt would soon become complicated,
00:29:58there's no denying that at one point the two were majorly head-over-heels for each other.
00:30:03While Princess Diana's affair with Major James Hewitt wasn't exactly shocking news
00:30:07for those in the royal family, the pair still had to be quiet about their romance.
00:30:12After all, it wouldn't look good for the royal family to be blatantly flaunting
00:30:16all of their affairs to the public, so Diana and Hewitt had to figure out how to be with
00:30:20each other without getting caught by the media. Officer Ken Wharfe writes in his book Diana,
00:30:26Closely Guarded Secret,
00:30:27"[The pair usually met in an old cottage in Devon, belonging to Shirley, Hewitt's mother,
00:30:32where the creaking bedroom floorboards told the story more loudly than any confession."
00:30:36Honestly, sneaking off to a cottage to be with a lover sounds pretty idyllic and romantic,
00:30:42despite their increasingly complex circumstances. Ultimately, Diana and Hewitt made the best of
00:30:47their situation and discovered new ways to be together, even though the British public was
00:30:52constantly watching. Though it might seem easy to write off Princess Diana's affair with Major
00:30:58James Hewitt as nothing more than a tryst, that is not exactly the case. The two were so close
00:31:03that Hewitt even got to know Diana's children, Prince William and Prince Harry. According to
00:31:08Anna Pasternak, Hewitt had become an important figure not just in Diana's life but in the life
00:31:13of her children. She says,
00:31:15"[He became such a familiar, private guest that William and Harry developed a fondness for him."
00:31:20Andrew Morton elaborates in his book Diana, Her True Story, in her own words,
00:31:25"[Diana's friendship with Captain James Hewitt
00:31:28blossomed precisely because he was a popular uncle figure to her boys."
00:31:32Morton goes on to explain that Hewitt even helped William fine-tune his horse-riding skills.
00:31:37Clearly, their affair was more than just a fling, as Diana's own children looked to
00:31:41Hewitt as a role model. In addition to sneaking off to a remote cottage to be together,
00:31:46Princess Diana and Major James Hewitt also found ways to meet in the palace,
00:31:50and they could have faced real consequences if discovered. After all, if Hewitt were to
00:31:55stride into the palace demanding to get into Diana's bedroom, eyebrows would certainly raise.
00:32:00But of course, they took all necessary precautions.
00:32:03Author Anna Pasternak, who previously worked with Hewitt on a book,
00:32:07explained exactly what went down in the Daily Mail.
00:32:10"[Hewitt was regularly bundled into car boots and driven to Kensington Palace when their affair
00:32:15ensued. He told me he was terrified the first night he stayed in Kensington Palace,
00:32:19relieved at least that Charles and Diana had separate bedrooms."
00:32:23Clearly, Diana and James Hewitt had an ardent and heartfelt love affair.
00:32:27And while the two probably both knew that it couldn't last forever — perhaps neither of
00:32:32them could have predicted how it would end — as it turns out, their relationship didn't end because
00:32:36Prince Charles was upset, or even because of any tips to the media. They ended their affair because
00:32:42Hewitt essentially abandoned Diana for his job. Hewitt was given an important military post,
00:32:48a promotion which required him to travel away from England. In his book, Diana,
00:32:53Closely Guarded Secret, Diana's bodyguard Ken Wharfe explains how this change became
00:32:58the final straw for the princess. Diana felt betrayed. He had chosen his career over her.
00:33:04At first, she did everything she could to prevent him from going,
00:33:07even threatening to speak to his commanding officer. When James refused to give up his career,
00:33:12Diana let the affair wane. It couldn't have been easy for Diana to end things with Hewitt,
00:33:17but because her marriage was crumbling, she likely needed someone that could be right there for her,
00:33:22and at this point it was clear that Hewitt was no longer that person.
00:33:26Princess Diana and Major James Hewitt's relationship was certainly well-known
00:33:30throughout royal circles, and just about everyone knew that Prince Charles had betrayed his promise
00:33:35of loyalty to Princess Diana. However, Hewitt betrayed Diana in an entirely new way when he
00:33:41collaborated with author Anna Pasternak on the book Princess in Love, laying out the details of
00:33:47their affair two years after their breakup. It was that book that hurt Diana the most.
00:33:52In 1995, about a year before Princess Diana and Prince Charles got divorced,
00:33:57Diana gave her famous interview with BBC's Panorama.
00:34:00When asked whether she also broke her marriage vows with Hewitt, she responded,
00:34:05"'Yes, I adored him. Yes, I was in love with him, but I was very let down.'"
00:34:11Clearly, Diana still had fond feelings toward Hewitt, but because of his ultimate betrayal
00:34:16of her with a cash-grab tell-all, those feelings soon became part of the past.
00:34:21Because one of Major James Hewitt's defining traits is his flaming red hair,
00:34:25many tabloids were quick to assert that he was actually Prince Harry's father.
00:34:29Obviously, Harry also has red hair, but such a trivial physical attribute does not a biological
00:34:34father make. Not only has Hewitt himself denied those rumors, but they're just not possible.
00:34:39In Diana, Closely Guarded Sacred, Ken Whorf writes,
00:34:43"'A simple comparison of dates' proves it is impossible for Hewitt to be Harry's father."
00:34:47He goes on to reveal that Princess Diana herself knew of the painful false narrative while it was
00:34:52being spread, confessing,
00:34:54"'Only once did I ever discuss it with her, and Diana was in tears about it.'"
00:34:58In a 2017 interview with Sunday Night, Hewitt once again plainly denied the allegations that
00:35:04he was secretly Harry's father, and expressed his remorse at the exploitative rumors circulation.
00:35:10That's heartbreaking. For you? For him?
00:35:13It's worse for him, probably.
00:35:18Poor chap.
00:35:19So there you have it. Diana and Hewitt might have had an intense love affair,
00:35:23but there was no love child.
00:35:26You'd think that marrying a real-life prince would be a fairy tale, but in the case of King
00:35:30Charles and Queen Consort Camilla, the path to happily ever after was anything but.
00:35:35In the ITV documentary The Real Camilla H.R.H., or Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cornwall,
00:35:41it was noted that Lord Mountbatten, Charles' great-uncle,
00:35:45was not a fan of his relationship with Camilla.
00:35:47You mean the donkey walloper, Parker Bowles?
00:35:50According to the documentary, Mountbatten reportedly advised Charles, quote,
00:35:54"'Lovely for you two to have a fling, but this absolutely cannot end in marriage.'"
00:35:58So what was it exactly that the royals didn't like about Camilla? In those early days,
00:36:03Camilla was reportedly known for being very lively, pretty, and loved drinking with friends.
00:36:08So, all in all, pretty normal behavior for a young person in that or any era.
00:36:12But the royals reportedly saw her as a non-starter given her boldness and reputation,
00:36:17and they worried that she would not be looked at as aristocratic enough for the then-prince.
00:36:22It seemed as though Charles and Camilla were simply not meant to be,
00:36:25and their early relationship in the 1970s fizzled as Charles pursued his naval career.
00:36:30When he returned from his naval post, Charles learned that Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles,
00:36:34her longtime boyfriend, were finally tying the knot, and the prince was said to be devastated.
00:36:39After learning the news, Charles reportedly wrote to a friend, quote,
00:36:42"'I suppose the feeling of emptiness will pass eventually,'
00:36:45noting that he no longer had someone to return to.
00:36:47And so it was, Camilla and Andrew married at the Guards Chapel on July 4,
00:36:511973, with the Queen Mother and Charles' sister, Princess Anne, in attendance, no less.
00:36:57Camilla's marriage was not enough, however, for her to stop seeing Charles.
00:37:01According to the ITV documentary, Camilla quickly returned to Charles' gaze
00:37:05given her husband's own infidelity. A source revealed in the documentary,
00:37:09"'She was unhappy that she was the betrayed woman. This was the real problem.
00:37:13That's what sent her back into the arms of Prince Charles.'"
00:37:16In the 1970s, even though Charles was one of the most eligible bachelors in the world,
00:37:20Charles maintained his relationship with the then-married Camilla,
00:37:24with the two continuing to chat regularly. While Camilla was pregnant with her first child,
00:37:28she and Charles would make it a point to see one another at polo events, The Daily Mail reported.
00:37:33When her son, Tom Parker Bowles, was born, Charles even became his godfather.
00:37:37Throughout the 1970s, Charles and Camilla made it a point to ride together,
00:37:41frequently enjoying the outdoors at the Badminton Estate. They spent so much time together,
00:37:46in fact, that Charles purchased Highgrove Estate, located in Gloucestershire,
00:37:50because, for one reason, it was situated close to Camilla's residence.
00:37:53By 1977, Camilla was pregnant with her second child, but shortly after welcoming baby number
00:37:58two, Charles and Camilla reignited their romantic relationship. This was, in part,
00:38:03because Camilla had reportedly given up on her husband, Andrew Parker Bowles,
00:38:07who had a sordid reputation all his own. Charles and Camilla were reportedly once
00:38:11again romantic with one another by 1978, though mostly behind closed doors.
00:38:16What we have is special. I know.
00:38:20But that's what makes things so confusing.
00:38:23Charles was in a predicament. He was in love with a married woman, but he needed to marry
00:38:27eventually. Cue Diana Spencer, the 19-year-old who was all but chosen for the then-prince.
00:38:32After only a dozen or so dates, Charles proposed to Diana in 1981, and the United Kingdom quickly
00:38:38celebrated their future king and queen. When asked by journalists at their engagement announcement
00:38:42if they were in love, they responded,
00:38:45Of course. Whatever in love means.
00:38:49As it turns out, Diana said she was traumatized over the remark,
00:38:53and revisited the very moment in the documentary, Diana in Her Own Words.
00:38:57Diana revealed that she went to Charles' mother, Queen Elizabeth II, for help shortly thereafter.
00:39:03As Diana recalled,
00:39:04I went to the top lady sobbing and I said,
00:39:06What do I do? I'm coming to you. What do I do?
00:39:10And she said, I don't know what you should do.
00:39:12Charles is hopeless, and that was it. That was help. They wed in July of that same year,
00:39:17and their rocky marriage never snuffed out the torch Charles carried for Camilla.
00:39:21By 1986, five years after Diana and Charles married,
00:39:24the then-prince had rekindled his romantic relationship with Camilla,
00:39:28a fact of which Diana was keenly aware. Recounting the incident years later,
00:39:32Diana confronted her husband's mistress at a birthday party for Camilla's sister in 1989.
00:39:37During that tense conversation, she told Camilla plainly,
00:39:40Rumblings about Charles and Camilla's relationship
00:39:45plagued the then-prince throughout his marriage to Diana. The two had already separated in 1992,
00:39:50but all hell broke loose in 1993 when the Camillagate tapes ravaged the front covers
00:39:55of publications all over the world. What happened was that a recorded phone conversation between
00:40:00Charles and Camilla had been leaked to the press. First showing up in the Australian publication,
00:40:05New Idea, and shortly thereafter in The Sun, the transcript of the conversation was shocking,
00:40:10particularly for what it revealed about the married heir to the British throne.
00:40:14We'll spare you the secondhand embarrassment of some of the call's details, but suffice it to say,
00:40:19the conversation ended with, quote,
00:40:21Love you forever, and
00:40:22Bye, darling.
00:40:23That made it abundantly clear that the pair still had a romantic connection,
00:40:27despite both being married to others.
00:40:29We both feel the same, and want the same.
00:40:34Any hopes Royal Watchers might have had that Charles and Diana might reconcile
00:40:38were likely dashed by this point. While they had been separated since 1992,
00:40:42Charles and Diana officially called it quits in 1996,
00:40:46not too long after Camilla formally ended her marriage in 1995.
00:40:50In fact, it was reportedly at Queen Elizabeth's urging that the royal couple ultimately divorced,
00:40:55as the negative press and outlandish rumors were overpowering.
00:40:58Diana certainly advocated for her own best interests amid her divorce proceedings,
00:41:03and walked away with a generous settlement and a residence at Kensington Palace.
00:41:07While she was able to keep the title of the Princess of Wales,
00:41:10Diana was forced to give up her HRH title, and of course, any future aspirations of being queen,
00:41:16though by that point she probably didn't mind. And for Charles' part, the then-prince was finally
00:41:21free to officially pursue the relationship with the woman he'd loved for years.
00:41:26As reported by The Guardian, Charles was keen to reintroduce Camilla into royal society.
00:41:31It should come as no surprise that her image needed a significant reboot,
00:41:35as she had been painted as the other woman in the royal relationship for so long.
00:41:39But tragic circumstances made that reintroduction nearly impossible.
00:41:43On August 31, 1997, Diana Spencer was tragically killed in a car accident in Paris.
00:41:49Any plans to tie himself publicly to Camilla were abandoned by Charles in the aftermath of Diana's
00:41:54death, as the world and his sons, Princes William and Harry, were mourning their sudden
00:41:59and horrific loss. By summer 1997, Charles approached Queen Elizabeth about bringing
00:42:05Camilla into the royal circles according to Tom Bower's book Rebel Prince, The Power and Passion
00:42:10and Defiance of Prince Charles. The queen, alleged in the book as having drunk several
00:42:15martinis at that point, did not give her son the answer he was surely looking for.
00:42:19Bowers wrote,
00:42:20To Charles' surprise, she replied forcefully. She would not condone his adultery,
00:42:25nor forgive Camilla for not leaving Charles alone to allow his marriage to recover.
00:42:29Bower further revealed that Her Majesty called Camilla, quote,
00:42:32"...that wicked woman," and that she wanted nothing to do with her.
00:42:35By the early 2000s, Queen Elizabeth was said to still be very stubborn regarding
00:42:39all Camilla-related matters, despite the couple having the support of Elizabeth's
00:42:43younger sister, Princess Margaret, who'd also had a rather sordid royal love affair that ended
00:42:48badly. While Margaret was on Charles and Camilla's side, the queen was staunchly against the
00:42:53relationship. It was only after the queen mother died in 2002 that Elizabeth started to defrost
00:42:58the ice-cold tension, but things still remained cold for quite some time.
00:43:03By 2005, Charles and Camilla were finally heading to the altar. Because both had been divorced,
00:43:08Charles and Camilla planned to tie the knot in a civil ceremony. Nevertheless,
00:43:12the lead-up to the understated royal wedding was fraught with tension.
00:43:16The Mirror reported that Queen Elizabeth continued to exclude the soon-to-be Duchess
00:43:20of Cornwall from official royal dinners and ceremonies. Elizabeth also announced that she
00:43:25would not be attending Charles and Camilla's wedding, and though she hung her decision on
00:43:29her high role within the Church of England, which would have supposedly clashed with the
00:43:32civil ceremony, it wasn't exactly a good look for the couple. Despite the queen's pointed absence,
00:43:38Charles and Camilla finally tied the knot that year, more than 30 years after they
00:43:41had initially met. The celebratory day, however, was not without its own unique stresses.
00:43:46For starters, the morning of the wedding, Camilla was in bed with a sinus infection,
00:43:50and the ladies around her were genuinely worried that she wouldn't be well enough
00:43:54to attend her own wedding. Vanity Fair noted that it took four people to convince Camilla
00:43:58to get out of bed on the actual wedding day. It was only when her sister threatened to put
00:44:02on Camilla's wedding dress herself that the bride-to-be collected the strength to get ready.
00:44:06As for the wedding itself, the civil ceremony was said to be laid back,
00:44:10by royal wedding standards at least, and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip
00:44:14hosted a reception afterward. Despite the seeming olive branch from the queen,
00:44:18the Mirror noted that the monarch didn't speak to Camilla at the reception at all
00:44:21and only interacted with her for 52 seconds during an official photo op.
00:44:26When Charles and Camilla married, she became the Duchess of Cornwall. She also became the
00:44:30Princess of Wales by marriage, but has not publicly used the title due to its connection
00:44:34to the late Diana Spencer. During those early years as a working royal, Camilla faced an uphill
00:44:40battle as the public was still very much skeptical of her and the role she played in
00:44:44the demise of Charles and Diana's marriage. Still, now that she was officially a member
00:44:48of the family, the palace was determined to rehabilitate Camilla's image, with E! News'
00:44:53chief news correspondent Melanie Bromley attesting to the baby steps approach that was taken.
00:44:58The baby steps approach the palace took when it came to Camilla's public life seemed to work
00:45:02for a while. Camilla's hard work and head-down approach proved that she was ready to put in
00:45:06the diligence necessary for the job, and some even credited her for making the then-Prince
00:45:11Charles seem less stuffy and a bit more down-to-earth. Some months before Queen Elizabeth
00:45:17II's September 2022 death, she made an important announcement. During her Platinum Jubilee
00:45:22celebration in the spring of 2022, Elizabeth made her intentions surrounding Camilla's future title
00:45:27known, writing to her subjects, when, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes king,
00:45:33I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me,
00:45:37and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort
00:45:42as she continues her own loyal service. In response, Charles said that he was, quote,
00:45:46deeply conscious of the honor represented by my mother's wish. The royal family has indeed
00:45:51upheld Queen Elizabeth's wish. Upon announcing the monarch's death on September 8, 2022,
00:45:57the royal family referred to Camilla by her new title, writing,
00:46:00The king and the queen consort will remain at Balmoral this evening
00:46:04and will return to London tomorrow. As the world gets accustomed to life without Queen Elizabeth,
00:46:08it seems clear that her successors in Charles and Camilla
00:46:11have finally found the acceptance they've sought for decades.
00:46:16There have been long-standing, unproven rumors that Prince Charles may have been
00:46:21unfaithful to Princess Diana with his son's nanny, Tiggy Legg-Bork. People Magazine reported
00:46:26that Legg-Bork was hired by the royal family in 1993 to help care for Charles and Diana's two
00:46:31young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. Diana and Charles had separated at the time,
00:46:37although they had not yet divorced. Legg-Bork soon became close enough to the royal family
00:46:41that she accompanied them on vacations. She has since maintained a close relationship with both
00:46:46princes, who attended her wedding in 1999, at which time she stopped working for the royal family.
00:46:52In addition, Legg-Bork was a guest at Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018
00:46:57and was later named as the godmother for his oldest child, Archie. However, before Diana's
00:47:02death in 1997, the princess reportedly had strong suspicions that Charles may have cheated on her
00:47:08with Legg-Bork. Rumors ran wild about the alleged affair, especially after Charles was photographed
00:47:13kissing Legg-Bork on the cheek on more than one occasion, per the Daily Mail. It was even
00:47:18alleged that Legg-Bork may have been pregnant with Charles' baby. Those rumors were intensified
00:47:23after journalist Martin Bashir reportedly used deceitful methods to get an interview with
00:47:28Princess Diana, in which he allegedly presented her with a fake receipt for an abortion, per The
00:47:33Telegraph. According to the Daily Mail, Bashir also allegedly whispered to Diana that her husband
00:47:38had vacationed with Legg-Bork in secret. Media rumors may have largely misconstrued Tiggy
00:47:44Legg-Bork's platonic relationship with Prince Charles, but the gossip columns seem to have
00:47:48been right about another thing, and that's the nanny's close bond with both William and Harry.
00:47:54While employed by the royal family, Legg-Bork allegedly began referring to the two young
00:47:58princes as her babies. According to the Express, one so-called source once said,
00:48:03"[Tiggy Legg-Bork is a loving, liberal mother and a slightly wild big sister."
00:48:07For example, the Daily Mail alleged that it might have been Tiggy who gave Prince Harry his first
00:48:12taste of cigarettes. Certainly, it was Legg-Bork who a 13-year-old Prince William invited to a
00:48:17school's June celebrations in place of either of his parents. To this day, Legg-Bork has seldom
00:48:23publicly talked of her time with the royals. In the absence of words, actions point to strong
00:48:28and enduring familial bonds with her former charges. Beyond attending each other's weddings,
00:48:33Tiggy, William, and Harry have all taken formal steps to ensure that their relationships will
00:48:37last a lifetime. As noted by the Daily Mail, Prince William is godfather to his former
00:48:42nanny's youngest child, Tom. Meanwhile, Prince Harry is godfather to her oldest child, Fred.
00:48:48And of course, Legg-Bork is godmother to Harry's son, Archie.
00:48:51Legg-Bork appears to have maintained a close relationship with the princes.
00:48:55However, she also seems to still be nurturing wounds from past media reports,
00:48:59which disparaged her name and strained her relationship with Princess Diana.
00:49:03Now, after a recent, months-long investigation into journalist Bashir's methods for obtaining
00:49:08his famous interview with Princess Diana, Legg-Bork is seeking justice for the rumors
00:49:13about her that were exacerbated during the televised interview. According to Yahoo,
00:49:17the rumors that Tiggy Legg-Bork not only had an affair with Prince Charles during his marriage
00:49:22to Princess Diana, but also became pregnant with his child have been put to rest,
00:49:26thanks to the investigation into Bashir's BBC interview with the Princess of Wales.
00:49:31Now that Bashir's dishonest methods used to secure the interview with Diana have come to light,
00:49:36Legg-Bork is said to finally be getting justice for the decades of rumors that have followed
00:49:41her around. As a source told The Telegraph,
00:49:43"[Tiggy Legg-Bork was right at the center of Bashir's manipulation,
00:49:47and it is right that the damage caused to her is recognized by the BBC.]
00:49:51And that's why a lot of people said I was an idiot for doing it."
00:49:54While the amount that the former royal nanny is being offered remains private,
00:49:58it seems that Legg-Bork will likely receive a six-figure payout in the near future.
00:50:02Legg-Bork has yet to publicly comment on the settlement. For his part,
00:50:06Bashir has claimed that he deeply regrets his actions when it comes to his interview
00:50:10with Diana, but claims that the Princess of Wales made the personal choice to be interviewed.
00:50:15While no amount of apologies can change the impact of Diana's famous interview or the rumors,
00:50:20it seems that Legg-Bork's substantial payout will at least offer some amount of justice for
00:50:25William and Harry's former nanny and friend.
00:50:29Who is the British socialite who had a rumored affair with Prince William?
00:50:34Rose Hanbury's alleged connection to the prince made her famous,
00:50:39but her family was tied to the royals long before those rumors.
00:50:44Rose Hanbury isn't the first in her family to have a connection to the royal family.
00:50:49Her grandmother, Lady Elizabeth Lambert, was a childhood friend of the late Queen
00:50:54Elizabeth II. Lambert's father was close friends with King George VI. Lambert was one of the eight
00:51:00bridesmaids who escorted Elizabeth on her wedding day to Prince Philip in 1947. When it was Lambert's
00:51:06turn to get married to Mark Longman, Elizabeth, Margaret, and the Queen Mother all attended the
00:51:12nuptials. The friendship between the two women spanned throughout their years as mothers as
00:51:17well. Elizabeth became the godmother to Lambert's eldest daughter, Caroline Longman, and had their
00:51:23daughters continue the tradition of meeting at Buckingham Palace.
00:51:27Rose Hanbury attended Stowe School, one of the most reputable schools in England.
00:51:32Many of its students continue their education at Oxford and Cambridge University. Rose continued
00:51:38her schooling at The Open University in England. Rose then became a model for the agency Storm,
00:51:44singing with them at age 23. While Rose's modeling career didn't reach the echelons
00:51:49that fellow Storm alumnus Kate Moss did, the two women had an interesting connection later in life.
00:51:55Rose's illustrious home, Houghton Hall, which she shares with her husband David Rock Savage,
00:52:01the Marquess of Cholmondeley, their home was used as a location for one of Moss' photo shoots.
00:52:07Rose and her sister, Marina Hanbury, both famous socialites, became the talk of the town when they
00:52:13were photographed wearing pink bikinis in Italy with the former Prime Minister of England, Tony
00:52:18Blair. This wasn't her only brush with politics, though. Rose became the researcher for the
00:52:23Conservative Member of Parliament, Michael Gove, but had to quit her job because of severe morning
00:52:29sickness when she became pregnant with twins. After Rose was taken to the Queen Charlotte's
00:52:33Hospital in London, Marina told the Daily Mail,
00:52:36"[Rose is absolutely fine now. It was one of those complications you get with twins.
00:52:41Hopefully she will be allowed home today or tomorrow."
00:52:45Rose Hanbury's husband, David Rock Savage, has two homes. The first, Cholmondeley Castle,
00:52:51is located in Cheshire, England. The castle itself was built in the 19th century,
00:52:56but the land has been in the Cholmondeley family since around 1100 A.D. The gardens are open to
00:53:02the public, so tourists can take in the famous Rose Garden, the Temple Garden, and a carefully
00:53:07cultivated path called the Lavinia Walk.
00:53:09We've got the subtle, we've got the fantastic, we've got lots of color, lots of texture."
00:53:14While the castle is a jaw-dropping piece of English history,
00:53:18Hanbury and her family live in the second property, Houghton Hall in Norfolk. It is
00:53:23frequently called a Palladian Hall due to its classical architecture, influenced by the Italian
00:53:28architect Andrea Palladio. This home also has a lot of history. It was built for Sir Robert Walpole,
00:53:35the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. The home itself is absolutely outrageous.
00:53:40It boasts 106 rooms and houses a museum-worthy collection of both classical and modern art.
00:53:47The home is as expensive as it is opulent, and like Cholmondeley Castle, curious visitors can
00:53:52book tours to explore the grounds and even parts of the interior from April until October each year.
00:53:58Houghton Hall actually has its own Instagram page, with several candid shots of Hanbury,
00:54:03her husband, and their children, so it's safe to assume that Hanbury has a hand
00:54:08in the social media presence of her famous home. It's also very close to Prince William
00:54:13and Princess Catherine when they take up residency at their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall.
00:54:19Rose Hanbury's husband is a man with many titles. His name is David George Philip Cholmondeley,
00:54:25and he's the seventh Marquess of Cholmondeley. At birth, he was the Viscount Malpas and later
00:54:30became the Earl of Rocksavage. In 1990, Cholmondeley became the Lord Great Chamberlain.
00:54:36However, after Queen Elizabeth II died, the role was handed on to Lord Rupert Carrington.
00:54:42Cholmondeley was also a filmmaker in his day, working both as a director and an actor. He
00:54:47directed Other Voices, Other Rooms in 1995 and Shadows in the Sun in 2009. In 2012,
00:54:54he produced the film Una Noce. Cholmondeley met Hanbury in Italy in 2003 at a party,
00:55:00but he had a reputation for bachelorhood, and no one expected them to settle down.
00:55:04However, they did away with these expectations in 2009. They announced that they were engaged.
00:55:10The next day, they announced that they were pregnant. One day after that,
00:55:13they got married at the Chelsea Register office. Afterward, they moved to Houghton Hall.
00:55:19The couple now has three children. When the couple announced that they were pregnant and
00:55:23got married the day after, Hanbury was pregnant with twin boys. Their sons are Alexander,
00:55:29Earl of Rock Savage and heir apparent, and Oliver, Lord Cholmondeley.
00:55:33There was an interesting way in which they decided who the heir would be,
00:55:38which is no small decision, since he inherits the title as well as a multi-million dollar estate.
00:55:43According to The Telegraph, since the sons were born almost exactly at the same time via
00:55:48c-section, they chose the heavier of the twins. A friend told the tabloid,
00:55:53they've decided that the eighth Marques will be the boy who weighed more at birth.
00:55:57There was only eight ounces in it, but they will be a very significant eight ounces.
00:56:02England needs an heir.
00:56:04They later welcomed a daughter, Lady Iris. On Hanbury's Instagram account for their home,
00:56:09Houghton Hall, she also shares photos of her kids. She shared a photo of Iris in the garden
00:56:14with the caption,
00:56:15"'Iris enjoying the best smell in the world. Wisteria.'"
00:56:19In another photo, Hanbury shared a photo of one of her sons walking toward their estate.
00:56:23She captioned it,
00:56:24"'Homeward bound.'"
00:56:26Just because she's rich and famous now doesn't mean that Rose Hanbury doesn't get involved in
00:56:31collabs and projects. On May 4, 2022, Hanbury shared a series of photos on Instagram,
00:56:38announcing her collaboration with interior design brand Cabana, linked with her home,
00:56:43Houghton Hall. She captioned the photo,
00:56:45"'A night to remember. A candlelit dinner in the marble parlor at Houghton Hall.'
00:56:50To celebrate the launch of Cabana x Houghton Tableware Collection,
00:56:54the photos showed an exquisitely laid table with long taper candles and elaborate flower
00:56:59arrangements. While they're beautiful, the tableware doesn't come cheap. One water glass
00:57:04cost $210, a tablecloth cost $495, and a rather ornate piece called the Houghton Hall Silver
00:57:12Swan Vessel cost $1,995. Aside from her modeling career and her marriage,
00:57:20Hanbury is known for something else, and it's a tale as old as time. While there's no confirmation
00:57:25that Rose Hanbury had an affair with Prince William, she's certainly been punished for it.
00:57:30In 2019, The Sun published a piece claiming that there was a feud between Princess Catherine and
00:57:36Hanbury, dubbing the latter Catherine's, quote, "'rural rival.'" This rumor began because both
00:57:41families lived in Norfolk, with Hanbury at Houghton Hall and Catherine and William in
00:57:45their country home, Anmer Hall. They were less than three miles apart, and The Sun
00:57:50reported that Catherine wanted William to put distance between himself and Hanbury.
00:57:55The scandal was hard on Hanbury, who suddenly became the talk of the area and, quite quickly,
00:58:00the rest of the world. Some turned on Hanbury, leaving her lonely and isolated. The Daily Mail
00:58:05reported,
00:58:06"'The most loyal friends are sticking by her, but others, they haven't.'"
00:58:09Her reputation and her social standing were hit hard by these rumors to the point where
00:58:13they allegedly disrupted even her marriage. Shortly after, in June 2019, when Hanbury
00:58:19attended a state dinner at Buckingham Palace in honor of former President Donald Trump,
00:58:23she wasn't wearing her wedding ring.
00:58:25"'Mr. President.'"
00:58:27While it's the royal way to never complain or explain, the rumors about Rose Hanbury
00:58:32and Prince William's affair reached such a fever pitch that both sides claimed to consider legal
00:58:37action, according to the Daily Mail. At the time, however, sources claimed that both families
00:58:42stalled on the idea because none of the outlets reporting on the alleged affair had anything
00:58:47substantive with which to back up their stories. The problem was, of course, that the rumors
00:58:52besmirched both the marriages of Prince William and Princess Catherine and that of Hanbury and
00:58:57her husband. Not only were Catherine and Hanbury friends before the scandal, but William and
00:59:02Chumlee were also reportedly friends, and the situation became increasingly awkward.
00:59:08At last, and somewhat surprisingly, the royals did take action,
00:59:12turning to the London law firm Herbottle & Lewis, who sent a letter to a British publication
00:59:17calling the rumors false, highly damaging, and a breach of privacy. Nevertheless,
00:59:21this hasn't stopped countless publications from covering the story.
00:59:25The rumored affair certainly made life harder for Hanbury, but that hasn't stopped her from
00:59:30participating in royal events. Before the gossip broke, she was a familiar face at Buckingham
00:59:35Palace. Then, of course, there was the state dinner for former President Donald Trump in June
00:59:402019, where Hanbury was present without her wedding ring. In March 2022, Hanbury and her
00:59:46husband attended the memorial service for the late Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey. She wore a
00:59:51black pillbox hat and a long black coat dress to honor the late prince. In September 2022,
00:59:57when Queen Elizabeth II died, Hanbury also attended her funeral, arriving before the
01:00:02procession of the immediate family. Rose Hanbury is involved in several
01:00:06charitable organizations. In fact, she and Princess Catherine are patrons of the same organization,
01:00:12East Anglia's Children's Hospices, or EACH. Catherine is the royal patron,
01:00:17while Hanbury is listed among the regular patrons. Hanbury joined EACH as a patron in 2018,
01:00:23and she was photographed visiting build sites for the hospice's new location. In fact,
01:00:28it was this patronage that linked Catherine and Hanbury in 2016 when the latter hosted a
01:00:33charity gala dinner at her home, Houghton Hall, to raise money for EACH. Catherine and Prince
01:00:38William attended and were greeted by Hanbury and David Chumley. The event was glamorous,
01:00:44with five Michelin star chefs cooking dinner for the guests. Both women,
01:00:48regardless of their relationship, continue to support the hospice.
01:00:52The dating history of the British royal family reads like a guidebook to scandal and controversy.
01:00:58And these are some of their most scandalous romances of all,
01:01:01because who would have thought Charles and Diana could have had quite so many affairs?
01:01:05Less than a year after taking the throne, King Edward VIII informed the prime minister of his
01:01:10intentions to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. This went about as well as you might
01:01:14expect. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin told King Edward VIII that the people would never accept
01:01:19Simpson as queen. So, in return, the king informed Baldwin that he was prepared to abdicate the
01:01:24throne, but also proposed the idea of a morganatic marriage, which would mean he could remain as king,
01:01:29but Simpson would not become queen. This plan was ultimately rejected, however,
01:01:33and in December of 1936, King Edward VIII resigned the throne. In a BBC News interview
01:01:38with both Simpson and the former king nearly 32 years into their marriage, Simpson admitted,
01:01:43I'm extremely happy, and
01:01:48now she's had some hard times, but who hasn't?"
01:01:50Prince Charles wasn't the only unfaithful party in his marriage to Diana, however.
01:01:53In another biography by Andrew Morton, the author revealed,
01:01:56While she raged against her husband's infidelity, she hid the fact that she
01:02:00had enjoyed a long, if sporadic, love affair with Captain James Hewitt from 1986 to 1990.
01:02:05According to the biography, at one point, Diana even talked about buying a house in
01:02:09the country with Hewitt, and Hewitt wasn't the only man with whom she considered running off.
01:02:13For Morton, she also fantasized about buying a house in Italy with the art dealer Oliver Hoare.
01:02:18Her secret love affair with Hoare, much like her relationship with Hewitt,
01:02:21apparently lasted for four years. In addition, Diana's own salacious phone calls were leaked
01:02:25to the media. In one, a man by the name of James Gilby can be heard calling Diana by the pet name
01:02:30Squidgee — not once, not twice, but 53 times in one half-hour recording. Apparently, fidelity was
01:02:36neither Charles nor Diana's strong point. Prince Andrew and his wife Sarah Ferguson
01:02:41the very same year as Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Much like the other unhappy couple,
01:02:45Andrew and Fergie had separated for a time before eventually calling it quits for good.
01:02:49Andrew and Ferguson reportedly split partially because of his demanding career.
01:02:53The newlyweds were only able to spend 40 nights a year together for the first five
01:02:57years of their marriage, but work wasn't the only thing tearing the two apart.
01:03:00According to Andrew Morton, Ferguson had an affair with Steve Wyatt,
01:03:03a man referred to in his Diana biography as a Texan playboy. Ferguson was later
01:03:08photographed in a compromising situation with another Texan, this time her financial advisor,
01:03:12John Bryan. In an interview with CNN, Ferguson recalled seeing the picture for the first time
01:03:17and thinking, "'Oh no, Sarah.'" Princess Anne and her husband Mark Phillips separated in the
01:03:22summer of 1989 and subsequently divorced in 1992. Anne's divorce was likely particularly
01:03:27troubling to the royal family, as she, too, had been involved in an affair. While married to
01:03:31Phillips, Anne reportedly entered into a relationship with a man by the name of Timothy
01:03:35Lawrence, who served the queen in the same capacity as Margaret's former love interest,
01:03:39Captain Peter Townsend. Their relationship was outed when letters Lawrence wrote to Anne were
01:03:43stolen from her briefcase and published by the press. After officially divorcing Phillips,
01:03:48Anne and Lawrence married in Scotland in 1992.
01:03:51Some might argue that Prince William and Kate Middleton are a good example of a modern royal
01:03:55couple, but that doesn't mean their relationship didn't come without some controversy. Before the
01:03:59two wed, Middleton could, in a sense, have been referred to as a commoner. Essentially, however,
01:04:04that just means she's not from a royal family, and Middleton was still incredibly wealthy before
01:04:08marrying William. Still, her social status was a point of contention for some, and her standing as
01:04:12a so-called commoner may have been why Prince William delayed proposing to Middleton for eight
01:04:16long years. Nowadays, Middleton is referred to as Catherine, Her Royal Highness the Duchess
01:04:20of Cambridge. Interestingly enough, however, the queen could have given her the name Princess
01:04:24William, in the same fashion as commoners have been named. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's
01:04:29romance made headlines right from the outset, thanks mostly to the former actress being a
01:04:33biracial American divorcee. Indeed, when Meghan was first introduced as Harry's girlfriend,
01:04:38the racist backlash from the British tabloid press and social media at large was swift and ruthless.
01:04:43Meanwhile, her friends and family were pumped for private information about the star.
01:04:46In December 2021, the duchess won a landmark case against the Mail on Sunday for breach of
01:04:51copyright and invasion of privacy after they published a private letter she'd sent to her
01:04:55estranged father. In their groundbreaking Oprah Winfrey interview, the Sussexes confirmed
01:04:59intense press intrusion was what ultimately led them to defect from the royal family.
01:05:03Harry was apparently terrified his wife would end up like his mother,
01:05:06the late Princess Diana, who died in a car crash after being chased by paparazzi.
01:05:10My biggest concern was history repeating itself, and I've said that before,
01:05:14on numerous occasions, very publicly."
01:05:16In the end, however, it appears that Harry and Meghan have managed to carve
01:05:20out a life for themselves elsewhere. Before Meghan Markle, there was Ku Stark.
01:05:24It was this actress who caused pearls to be clutched within the royal family back in the
01:05:2880s after Stark hooked up with Prince Andrew. Stark was a fledgling actor whose biggest roles
01:05:32were in racy movies such as Cruel Passion and Emily. As royal family expert Charles
01:05:37Ray explained, she caused a sensation. Everyone was fascinated by her, particularly her past.
01:05:42Although both the queen and the late Princess Diana were reportedly fond of her,
01:05:45Stark was never going to fit in with the royals because, as royal expert Ingrid Seward once said,
01:05:50In those days, a prince of the realm might have had an actress as a mistress,
01:05:53just like his ancestors would have done, but never a wife.
01:05:56She and Andrew were apparently set up on a blind date in 1981 and hit it off immediately. However,
01:06:01the press deemed Stark totally unsuitable to marry a prince, and the relationship was,
01:06:05therefore, doomed to fail.