William and Kate look like the dream pair. It was at the University of St. Andrews that the Prince and Princess of Wales met.
There were some ups and downs in their relationship, but they made it through and got married.
They now have a wonderful family. After his father, King Charles, only time will tell when it is William’s turn to take the throne.
The Prince and Princess Kate really care about their friends and other people they know. But some years ago, a shocking claim about William and a woman who was rumored to be his lover shocked the royal family and fans…
It was not just any woman; it was one of Princess Kate’s best friends. What did really happen? Who is this woman said to be her mistress? How about we take a better look?
Prince William and Princess Kate met at St. Andrews University and became friends there. Before they met, they were both with other people, but it was clear right away that their partnership would be different.
They lived in St. Salvator’s Hall, the same dorm, and went to the same classes and talks. After their second year, they moved in with some friends in a private home, which is where their love grew.
It seemed like William and Kate shared a sense of fun, which was one of the things that made them click.
“She’s got a really naughty sense of humour, which really helps me because I’ve got a really dirty sense of humour so it was good fun, we had a really good laugh, and then things happened,” William said in their engagement video.
It wasn’t long before everyone, or at least the British tabloids, found out that Kate Middleton was dating the future king.
Naturally, the papers wrote as much as they could about the couple. However, they didn’t just write “love is in the air” stories. Instead, they were interested in Kate’s private life and even called her mean things.
Neither William nor Kate went to college in 2005. Kate had a Master of Arts in history and William had a Master of Arts in geography.
Even though they were very close, it looked like other people were trying to hurt their relationship.
Katie Nicholl said that William’s friends made fun of Kate by calling her mean names and making sly jabs at her because of Carole’s job. She was an air hostess for British Airways before she and her husband, Michael, started their well-known business.
Nicholl said on the Dynasty podcast from Vanity Fair that William’s “snooty” friends used this against him. They said “doors to manual” in a whisper when Kate walked into a London bar.
Some upper-class people were also said to have called the princess’s family “the en masse Middletons.”
Kate was called cruel nicknames by William’s friends
The prince’s upper-class friends, who are called the “Glosse Posse” because they are from Gloucestershire, talked down to Kate like she was not worthy of their attention. But Kate never shut up about the “derogatory” things people said about her. Instead, she decided to not look at them.
“It was never water off a duck’s back, but she has extraordinary strength of character and resilience. I’ve never once seen or heard of her losing her temper,” a royal aide told the Sunday Times Magazine.
A source told the Daily Mail in 2021 that Prince William “flew off the handle” when his friends made fun of his lover.
“He flies off the handle at any sign of Kate being patronised and stamps that out very quickly. It’s one of his triggers,” the royal source said.
“Over the years, many people have come up with great ideas for her, but if they are put across in a dismissive way, they’ve got pretty short shrift from him.”
Many people thought it was the start of what would soon be an engagement at that point. But things went badly after only two years.
William and Kate split up in 2007, which got a lot of attention. At the same time, things seemed unstable a year ago when William and Kate turned down each other’s requests to spend big holidays together.
For example, William reportedly turned down Kate’s parents’ invitation to spend New Year’s Eve with them just a few days before, which made Kate cry.
Married in 2011
Nicolell wrote in 2011 a book called The Making of a Royal Romance, in which she said that Kate was afraid for the future of their relationship.
William said he would meet Kate and her family, but he called on Christmas Day to back out. He chose to stay with the royal family instead.
He didn’t know what to do, so the future king talked to the Queen and his father, Charles, about how he felt. It was easy for them to answer.
“William had been having second thoughts and sat down with his father and his grandmother to have a frank discussion about his future with Kate. Both advised him not to hurry into anything,” Nicholl claimed in her book.
The love story between William and Kate was still alive, of course. Their friendship was strong, and they made up.
They got married in Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011. In 2013, they had their first child, Prince George, who will become king. In 2015, they had Princess Charlotte, and in 2018, they had Prince Louis.
People look up to Prince William and Princess Kate as examples of how royals should act in public. It’s also about how they raise their kids. They have made it clear for many years that they want George, Charlotte, and Louis to have a normal childhood, even though they have to follow some rules. They are royal after all, and those rules can seem pretty strict to someone outside.
In 2019, though, a very bad story spread in a US tabloid that shocked the royal family. Had William cheated on his wife?
William was rumored to have had an affair with Kate’s friend Rose Hanbury
The first thing that needs to be said is that nothing has been proven. An American magazine called In Touch said in April 2019 that William “may” have had an affair with Rose Hanbury, who is the Marchioness of Cholmondeley and a friend of Kate’s.
The “falling out” between William, Kate, and Rose was written about in tabloids.
It was reported in In Touch that Kate told William about the claims, but William “laughed it off” and said they weren’t true.
At the time, Richard Kay, a royal expert for the Daily Mail, spoke out against the reports and said they were all lies.
“Both sides have considered legal action, but because none of the reports have been able to offer any evidence about what the so-called dispute is about, they have chosen to ignore it…
These hurtful rumors of a fallout are simply false,” Kay wrote.
There was a lot of talk about it, and in 2019 the Daily Mail said that Kate would “phase out” Rose Hanbury from their group of friends.
Rose lived close to William and Kate, knew a lot of the same people, and had homes in Norfolk that were close to each other. This didn’t help.
William and Kate’s summer home in Anmer Hall is close to Houghton Hall, where Rose and her husband live. Houghton Hall is said to have 106 rooms.
My Late Mom Left Me a Trust Fund, but My Dad Took Money from It for His Stepdaughter — I Finally Retaliated
My mom was my everything, and when cancer took her, she left me memories and a lifeline — a trust fund meant for my future. When my dad greedily started using it for his stepdaughter, it felt like he was erasing Mom’s memory piece by piece. I couldn’t let him take what was left of her or me.
There’s this thing about losing someone you love — you carry the weight of it forever, even if it doesn’t show. I lost my mom to breast cancer when I was ten. One day, she was there, brushing my hair and humming to some old rock song, and the next, she was gone. Just like that.
A grieving young woman mourning before a loved one’s grave | Source: Freepik
I remember our last conversation like it was yesterday. She was sitting on her hospital bed, her fingers weakly running through my hair.
“Promise me something, baby girl,” she whispered.
“Anything, Mom,” I said, trying to hold back my tears.
“Promise me you’ll never let anyone dim your light. You’re so special, Iris. So incredibly special.”
A sad woman sitting on a hospital bed | Source: Pexels
She didn’t leave me with much — just a few photos, the smell of her favorite vanilla perfume lingering on her scarves, and a trust fund she set up for me before she passed.
“This is for Iris,” she’d told my dad and my grandparents. “For her education and her future. Promise me she’ll always have it.”
They promised. My dad promised too. But promises don’t mean much when someone’s not around to hold you to them.
A trust agreement on a table | Source: Midjourney
My dad remarried two years later. His new wife, Marianne, came with her own baggage: a twelve-year-old daughter named Emily.
I didn’t mind at first. Mom was gone, and I thought maybe this could be a new chapter.
But I quickly learned how things would work in our house: Emily first, Marianne second, Dad somewhere in the mix, and me? Not even in the picture!
An annoyed girl | Source: Pexels
It started small. Once, our fridge and shower broke at the same time. Dad took money from the trust fund without my permission to fix them.
“I’ll pay it back,” he said like it was no big deal. A week later, he bought Emily a MacBook for her birthday. On mine? A $100 gift card.
It wasn’t the money — it was the message.
Over the years, he kept dipping into the fund for car repairs, home renovations, and things that had nothing to do with me. “It’s just temporary,” he’d always say. But the withdrawals kept piling up, and the “temporary” excuses wore thin.
A frustrated teenage girl | Source: Pexels
By the time I got to college, I didn’t need the money for tuition because of my scholarship. That didn’t stop him from finding new ways to use it, though. Every time I brought it up, he brushed me off. “Don’t stress, Iris. It’s safe.”
Safe. Right.
“You understand, don’t you, Iris?” That’s what he’d always say when something I needed got pushed aside for Emily. New clothes for her pageant? Sure. My vacation? Maybe next year. It stung, but I swallowed it down.
But the swallowing got harder.
I’ll never forget the day I realized how much of Mom’s trust fund was gone. It was late one night during my final year of college. I’d overheard Emily talking to her friends about how “Daddy” was covering the cost of her new car. My stomach twisted as I thought about the fund.
A delighted woman talking on the phone | Source: Midjourney
“Can you believe it?” Emily squealed through the thin walls. “A brand new BMW! Daddy said I deserve it for making it to nationals!”
My hands trembled as I sat at my desk, memories of Mom’s words echoing in my head: “This is for Iris. For her future.”
It had been years since I’d seen the account. My dad had told me not to “stress over it.” But now, something felt off, and I decided to check it.
I logged into the account, and my heart sank. The numbers didn’t make sense. Thousands were missing. Pageant fees. A water heater. Emily’s car. Every withdrawal was like a punch in the gut.
A woman using a laptop | Source: Pexels
By the time I closed my laptop, my hands were shaking. This wasn’t just money. It was Mom’s legacy. She’d trusted Dad to protect it, and he’d drained it like it was his personal wallet.
I called my grandma the next morning.
“Sweetheart,” she said after I told her everything. “This has gone on long enough. You have to stand up to him.”
“I can’t breathe, Grandma,” I sobbed into the phone. “It feels like he’s erasing Mom piece by piece. Like he’s erasing ME.”
“Oh, my sweet girl,” she whispered. “Your mother would be furious right now. She fought so hard to make sure you’d be taken care of.”
“I know,” I cried, my throat tight. “I trusted when he said he’d put the money back. But he’s only been draining Mom’s hard-earned money.”
A worried older woman talking on the phone | Source: Midjourney
“Your mother was a fighter,” Grandma added. “And so are you. It’s time to show them that.”
“I will when the right time comes,” I said, my heart heavy as I hung up.
It all came to a head a week later. Graduation was around the corner, and I was finally ready to celebrate after four years of sleepless nights and busted printer deadlines. I called Dad and told him I was graduating on December 20th. I could hear the pause on the other end of the line, long enough for my stomach to drop.
A woman calling her father | Source: Midjourney
“Oh, December 20th?” he said finally. “That’s when Emily’s pageant is. We’ve already made plans.”
“You’re missing my graduation for a pageant?”
“Ah, c’mon, Iris. Graduation’s not a big deal. You’ll have more of those. But this pageant? It’s her chance to shine.”
I didn’t even realize I was gripping my phone so hard until my fingers started to hurt. “You’re kidding, right?”
A woman engrossed in a phonecall | Source: Pexels
I heard Marianne chime in, her tone dripping with condescension from the background. “Don’t be selfish, Iris. Graduations happen all the time. Emily’s pageant is once-in-a-lifetime.”
“Selfish?” I spat. “Dad, this isn’t about being selfish. This is about you choosing Emily over me. Again.”
“That’s not fair —” he protested.
“Not fair? You want to talk about fair? When was the last time you chose me? When was the last time you even saw me?”
A man on a phonecall | Source: Midjourney
“Of course I see you, Iris.”
“No, you DON’T!” The words burst out of me like a dam breaking. “You see Emily. You see her pageants and her dance recitals and her EVERYTHING. But me? I’m just the ghost in the corner. Mom’s leftover that you don’t know what to do with.”
“Iris, that’s enough!”
“No, it’s not enough! It’s never been enough!” I cried, years of hurt pouring out. “Do you know what Mom’s last words to me were? She made me promise not to let anyone dim my light. But you’ve been doing exactly that for years, Dad. Years!”
A furious woman talking on the phone | Source: Pexels
He sighed like I was being unreasonable. “We’ll celebrate when we’re back. I promise.”
The word “promise” hit me like a slap. “Your promises don’t mean anything anymore,” I whispered. “They haven’t since Mom died.”
I hung up without saying goodbye. My grandparents, at least, showed up for my graduation. Seeing their proud faces in the crowd made the day feel a little less lonely. They hugged me so tightly afterward, reminding me that someone still cared. I was happy, but I had one last thing to do.
A heartbroken woman | Source: Midjourney
The next day, I walked into Dad’s office with the account statements in hand. My stomach was doing backflips, but I couldn’t let that stop me.
“We need to talk,” I said, shutting the door behind me and dropping the papers on his desk.
Dad looked up from his computer, frowning. “What’s this?”
“The trust fund statement. Mom’s trust fund. The one you’ve been draining for years.”
His face paled, but he tried to play it off. “Iris, come on. Everything I’ve spent was for the family. You’ve never needed it. You had a scholarship.”
“That money wasn’t for the family,” I cut in. “It was for ME. For MY future. And you spent it on Emily. Don’t even try to deny it. The statements don’t lie.”
A stack of documents on a table | Source: Midjourney
“You don’t understand what it’s like,” he stood up, his voice rising. “Being a father, trying to blend two families —”
“And you don’t understand what it’s like watching your father erase every trace of your mother!” I shot back. “That money was the last thing she could give me, and you treated it like your personal ATM!”
He leaned back in his chair, his jaw tightening. “I did what I had to do.”
“No,” I said, standing my ground. “You did what was convenient for you. And now you’re going to pay it back. Every penny.”
His laugh was bitter. “And if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll sue you.”
A woman crossing her arms and pointing her finger at someone | Source: Pexels
The room went silent. For the first time in my life, I saw real fear in his eyes.
“You wouldn’t,” he said finally.
“Mom always said I had her backbone,” I replied. “Maybe it’s time you remembered that.”
The fallout was as messy as I expected. My stepmom and stepsister called me, yelling through the phone. “How could you do this, Iris?” Marianne’s voice was shrill like I had personally burned their house down.
“Do what?” I said, gripping my phone tighter. “Stand up for myself? Demand the respect I’ve never gotten from you people?”
An annoyed senior woman | Source: Midjourney
“Don’t make this about you,” she snapped. “You’re punishing us because we couldn’t be in two places at once. You know how much Emily’s pageant meant to her!”
“And my graduation didn’t mean anything to you,” I fired back. “I’ve had enough, Marianne. I’m done.”
“How dare you? After everything we’ve done for you?”
“Done for me?” I laughed hollowly. “What exactly have you done except try to replace everything about Mom?”
A young woman laughing | Source: Midjourney
“I tried to be a mother to you!”
“No,” I snapped. “You tried to erase my mother. There’s a difference.”
She called me a “selfish” brat. But I didn’t back down.
Under the U.S. law, she and Dad had no leg to stand on. My grandparents helped me draft the legal documents, and by the time I handed them over, Dad knew he was out of options.
A month later, the money was back in my account. They’d taken out loans to do it, but that wasn’t my problem. I moved out the next week and settled into my grandparents’ house temporarily. It felt good to be somewhere warm and safe for once.
A woman with a suitcase and bag | Source: Pexels
“You’ve always been stronger than you think, Iris,” Grandma said one night as we sat on the porch. She wrapped her cardigan around my shoulders, and it smelled like Mom’s vanilla perfume.
“I didn’t feel strong,” I admitted, staring at the stars. “I just felt angry.”
“Sometimes, anger is what we need to get moving,” she said with a smile. “Your mother… she knew this might happen, you know. That’s why she made us promise to watch over you.”
“She did?”
“Oh yes. She said, ‘My Iris might bend, but she’ll never break.’ She knew exactly who you were, sweetheart.”
I handed her a check the next day, a portion of the repaid money. She tried to refuse it, but I insisted. “You and Grandpa have done more for me than anyone else ever has. Please. Let me do this.”
A woman holding a check | Source: Midjourney
She hugged me so tightly that I thought I might break. “We’re so proud of you. And your mom… oh, she would be over the moon.”
With the rest of the money, I enrolled in grad school and got my own apartment. It wasn’t fancy, but it was mine.
One night, as I unpacked some boxes, I came across an old photo of Mom and me. She was holding me in her lap, her smile soft and warm.
“I did it, Mom,” I whispered, running my fingers over the photo. “I kept my promise. I didn’t let them dim my light.”
A woman holding an old photograph | Source: Midjourney
My phone buzzed with a message from Dad. But I didn’t open it.
Instead, I texted Grandma: “I think I’m finally free.”
Her reply was immediate: “You are, sweetheart. You are. Your mother is probably dancing in heaven right now.”
I set the phone aside and smiled, my eyes misty. For the first time in years, I felt like I was finally living for me. Living how Mom had always wanted me to… bright and unafraid.
An emotional young woman | Source: Midjourney
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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