Kensington Palace reportedly went to great lengths to ensure rumors of Prince William allegedly cheating on Kate Middleton with longtime friend Rose Hanbury didn’t come out, if we are to believe what Omid Scobie wrote in his bombshell biography Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival.
If you’ll recall, there have been various rumors about the Prince of Wales allegedly having an affair over the years, with one of the biggest allegations taking place when the Princess of Wales was pregnant with Prince Louis in 2019.
Kensington Palace Secretary Was 'So Desperate' To Stop Cheating Rumors
According to Scobie's book, a former courtier detailed how the palace's press secretary, Christian Jones, managed to get The Sun, which seemed to be the first outlet to ask questions about the rumors, to stop investigating them.
"Christian was so desperate to stop [the rumor] and made it his mission to do so," the former courtier spilled. They went on to explain how the cheating rumors were "stressing" Jones out so much, before going on to allege that he bribed a journalist with other stories about the royal family "in exchange for standing down on the rumors."
The publication did indeed stop writing about the rumored affair in June 2019, with Scobie writing that the outlet "suddenly pulled reporters off the hunt." Scobie then noted that the outlet interestingly turned its attention to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as it published "a series of revealing stories" shortly after.
Omid Scobie Was 'Very Careful' About How Cheating Allegations Were Handled In 'Endgame'
Scobie previously told Entertainment Tonight that he was "very careful" about how the cheating rumors were handled in his book, saying: "For legal reasons there are so many things that one can't go into, but I thought it was really important, 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."
Scobie went on to suggest that the royal family's 'never complain, never explain' mantra may be the reason why the affair rumors are still around, as neither Prince William nor Kate have "addressed" them to try to put an end to them. "Those rumors will never go away even though there's no truth to suggest that they are true," he added.
Although the Prince and Princess of Wales haven't directly addressed the rumors, Prince William's lawyers did issue a statement back in April 2021, which read: "In addition to being false and highly damaging, the publication of false speculation in respect of our clients' private life also constitutes a breach of his privacy pursuant to Article 8 of the European Convention to Human Rights."
