Though Prince William has just begun a solo tour of New Zealand, the news of the day remains his alleged affair with his posh country neighbor, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. Now, there are fresh rumors that Prince William has ordered a media blackout on the reporting of his alleged affair, per Celebitchy .
Reports first started circulating in late March that there was a feud between Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, and her “country rival” Rose Hanbury. However, tabloids soon started reporting on whispers that the fight had been caused by William’s wandering eye. A reporter from The Times then claimed on Twitter that “everyone knows about the affair,” before quickly deleting the tweet, as reported by The Inquisitr .
Since then, little has been written about the potential scandal, and on Twitter , royal watchers have been voicing their discontent that the British media seem to be ignoring such a bombshell story.
“Did Prince William also order a media blackout on pap photos of Rose Hanbury? Why haven’t we seen hide nor hair of her since news of their affair broke? I refuse to believe there’s no interest. Is she holed up in Houghton Hall or is Willy protecting his girlfriend from the press?”
Though most of the tweets have come from anonymous Twitter users, Nazir Afzal added his own tea to the story. Afzal is a respected figure in the United Kingdom and is an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In addition to doing groundbreaking work for victims of child exploitation and violence against women, he is also a national advisor to the Welsh government.
Afzal wrote that after hearing two “very senior media people” discuss Prince William, he is worried about a media blackout and its implications for freedom of the press.
This is not the first time the British media have protected their monarchy from salacious allegations — a similar situation occurred back in the 1930s when the future King Edward VIII was having an affair with future wife American Wallis Simpson. Not only did the British press decline to report on the story, but it also actively suppressed other outlets that did. Per The Guardian , an October 1936 edition of The Milwaukee Journal featured a column headlined “American Newspapers Kept From Londoners.”
“There was not a single copy of American newspapers dated Oct. 16, 17 or 18 for sale on the largest international newspaper stands in London Thursday night. Those dates immediately followed upon the announcement of Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson’s divorce suit.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton were married in 2011 and share three children together: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
Their eight-year anniversary is in four days, on April 29.