Who is Rose Hanbury? Why she's being linked to Prince William

British socialite Rose Hanbury has found herself in the media spotlight several times after being linked to a rumour of an affair with King Charles's eldest son Prince William.

Rose is wife of David George Philip Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and her official title is the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. She was described as a "beguiling socialite" and worked as a model before marrying David in 2009.

David, who has connections to the palace through his own high social status, counts King Charles among his friends. While, Rose also enjoys strong ties back to the royal family with her grandmother, Lady Elizabeth Lambart, reportedly serving as one of The Queen's bridesmaids at her 1947 wedding to Prince Philip.

Rose reportedly lives near the Wales’ country home Anmer Hall in Norfolk.

She was considered very close friend to Prince William and Kate Middleton, but unsubstantiated claims that her connection to Prince of Wales was more than friendly set the internet on fire in 2019. It was also claimed that the prince was unfaithful to his wife during her third pregnancy.

In fact, since then, she has been referred to as the ‘rural rival’ to Kate and her husband. And the palace and Kate reportedly asked her husband to remove her from his circle of friends.

She made headlines again after appearing as a guest at the Queen's funeral last year in September, where senior royals were also in attendance.

But, the story took a new turn after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Netflix show Harry & Meghan, where the Duke claimed: "They were happy to lie to protect my brother. They were never willing to tell the truth to protect us."

King Charles's younger son's claims set tongues wagging as some speculated whether the Duke meant that his elder brother and Rose’s alleged affair was covered up by Buckingham Palace officials who ‘lied’ to kill the story and instead focused on Harry’s then-pregnant wife Meghan Markle.

There was speculation that Rose had been excluded from royal engagements as a result of the rumours about her and Prince William, however that claim has since been debunked as she attend the Queen's funeral with her husband. While she wasn't pictured with any members of the royal family, it's not the first royal engagement she's been to since the rumours surfaced.

Marca News, citing the UK press, claims that the heir to the throne spent Valentine's Day with his alleged mistress. The two were reportedly having a romantic dinner together and were spotted at a fancy Italian restaurant in the London capital.  The outlet, citing a waiter at the restaurant, reports William had given Rose a pearl necklace for Valentine's Day.