Rose Hanbury Sends Legal Notice to Stephen Colbert Over Prince William Affair Joke on ‘The Late Show’

After Stephen Colbert brought the all-but-dead Prince William and Rose Hanbury affair rumors back to life during an opening monologue on The Late Show on March 12, Hanbury has not only spoken out publicly about the rumors for the first time in five years (the speculation started in 2019) but is also threatening legal action against Colbert over his joke, Us Weekly reports.

It has been confirmed that Hanbury’s lawyers sent a legal notice to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert after Colbert “poked fun at rumors she was unfaithful with William in 2019—and linked the alleged affair to speculation about Princess Kate Middleton’s whereabouts as she recovers from surgery,” Us Weekly reports.

“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,” Hanbury’s lawyers said in a statement. “We have written on our client’s behalf to CBS and various other reputable media organizations to confirm that the allegation is false.” 

Also, through her lawyers, Hanbury spoke out for the first time about the rumors, telling Business Insider that the allegations “are completely false.” This is the first time that Hanbury has addressed the story publicly since its origins; Hanbury and her husband, David Rocksavage (who, together, are the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley), are the parents of three children and are neighbors of William and Kate’s at the country home of the Wales family, Anmer Hall, in Norfolk. Hanbury and her family live nearby at Houghton Hall. In 2023, both Marquess Cholmondeley and his son, Lord Oliver, had major roles in King Charles Coronation—David as the King’s lord-in-waiting and Oliver as a Page of Honor alongside Prince George, William and Kate’s eldest child.

Meanwhile, Kate could “absolutely” file a civil lawsuit after her private medical records were involved in a security breach at The London Clinic, where she underwent abdominal surgery on January 16. As the public continues to wonder what has sidelined Kate from public-facing royal duty for so long, The London Clinic launched an investigation into its employees after members of the hospital’s staff reportedly tried to access Kate’s private medical records; the investigation began after one staffer attempted to access the Princess of Wales’ file without permission.

“Kate can always file a civil lawsuit for invasion of privacy,” attorney and legal expert Neama Rahmani told Us Weekly, adding it should be “easy to catch” the perpetrator, given the nature of the breach. “If she wants to go after the perpetrator to say that her privacy rights were violated, she can absolutely do so,” adding “It’s pretty clear right now whenever you access a file or a site, who’s doing so,” he said. “It’s just really a question of, did the perpetrator just try to access the data, or was he or she able to actually see it? In which case that would be a very serious violation.” 

If caught, consequences for the perpetrator could range from “a criminal investigation and prosecution” to a professional penalty, resulting in suspension or even losing their license entirely.

It remains to be seen whether Kate will opt to take legal action or not. The London Clinic CEO Al Russell addressed the security breach in a statement to NBC News this week, writing “Everyone at The London Clinic is acutely aware of our individual, professional, ethical, and legal duties with regards to patient confidentiality.” He noted that the hospital has “systems in place to monitor management of patient information and, in the case of any breach, all appropriate investigatory, regulatory, and disciplinary steps will be taken.”