Royally Awkward: Did Prince William’s Alleged Mistress Steal Kate Middleton’s Style at the Coronation?

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the royals, here’s a brief synopsis: King Charles III was officially coronated

Prince William and Kate Middleton
Prince William and Kate Middleton

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the royals, here’s a brief synopsis: King Charles III was officially coronated over the weekend, with royals and dignitaries from across the world in attendance.

But while the guest list was interesting, the royal family itself was smoking hot with speculation and intrigue.

The will-they, won’t-they about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attending ended with Harry looking uncomfortable and shoved behind an aunt with a ridiculous hat, an alleged mistress to Prince William fired up speculation, and the King himself was caught muttering about how boring it all was.

And the drama didn’t end there.

Here’s a look at some of the most interesting royal moments from the weekend.

Did Prince William’s Mistress Steal Kate’s Style?

First, we need to talk about the big scandal of the weekend: Prince William’s supposed mistress.

Who is she? Well, her name is Rose Hanbury – and she was close friends with Kate. Hanbury, whose title is actually a mouthful – Marchioness of Cholmondeley – was rumored to have had an affair with Prince William in 2019.

That’s enough to throw cold water on any friendship, and for most of the coronation, Kate and Hanbury seemed to give each other a wide berth.

According to those on the ground, Prince William shunned Hanbury to appease his wife.

But there was no getting around the fact that Hanbury seemed to be wearing an outfit that Middleton has worn publicly before.

Marca writes, “Hanbury and her husband, David Cholmondeley, were invited to King Charles III’s coronation on Saturday as their son, Oliver, was one of the pages who held the King’s robe as he made his way through the halls of Westminster Abbey.

Many have decided that Hanbury was sended a message to Kate by wearing similar outfits to her, perhaps attempting to upstage the royal.”

One could potentially argue that there was no intent to copy Middleton’s dress – after all, Hanbury’s dress was off-white compared to Middleton’s crisp white. But they both shared black architectural details and the shoes – identical.

There’s a (not-so-Proud) Family History of Copycat Mistresses Among Royals

If it seems like a shockingly bold move for an alleged mistress of a royal to make in such a public forum, just know – it’s all been done before.

Enter: Queen consort Camilla.

Now-King Charles III met her at a polo match when they were still young and unattached. They got along from the beginning, but when King Charles left to serve in the Royal Navy for 8 months, he returned to find Camilla engaged to someone else.

In 1973, Camilla married – and in 1980, Charles began dating Lady Diana Spencer.

In 1981, Diana and Charles marry.

According to Charles’ own authorized biography, he began an affair with Camilla in 1986.

In 1995, Camilla divorced her husband, and a year later Charles divorced Diana.

Diana would later die in a car accident, with many speculating that Charles, Camilla, or the combined royal institution wanted her out of the way and paid paparazzi to pursue her to her doom.

But there was one weird habit that Camilla picked up while Diana was still alive – copycatting her style.

Cultura Colectiva writes, “When the news about Prince Charles and Camilla’s relationship became public, Diana attended a public event with what would be known as the ‘revenge dress.’ It was a beautiful and bold piece she would’ve never been allowed to wear as a member of the Royal Family. Bare shoulders, skirt slit, and black color were just forbidden elements of a royal outfit. She looked like a goddess, and many applauded her for that subtle act of vengeance.

A short time later, after Diana’s revenge dress became a sensation, Camilla showed up in a dark dress with bare shoulders… Coincidence? Probably not. Cynical? Definitely!”

And it didn’t stop there. Camilla famously copied Diana’s style several other notable times – apparently making it a family tradition.

The King Was Bored

Of course, since there’s no official acknowledgement of whether or not William and Hanbury had an affair, all speculation about the dress similarities remains just that – speculation.

One thing that seems evident, however, is how the new King was feeling during his coronation: bored.

Apparently, as Charles and Camilla waited in their carriage, lip-readers say that they got a little antsy about the time.

Indy100 writes, “The moment came as the couple sat in their carriage waiting for William, Kate, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to arrive. The family allegedly ran late, which meant they were forced to join the procession behind Charles, rather than enter the abbey before him as planned.

This tardiness was apparently the source of the King’s frustration, according to two expert lipreaders who, independently of each other, offered their assessments of his grumpy carriage remarks.

He said: ‘We can never be on time. Yes, I’m … this is a negative. There’s always something,’ according to one lipreader, who offered their expertise to Sky News.

He then apparently added: ‘This is boring.’

The other professional interpreter told MailOnline that, in fact, he said: ‘I’m worried about time, I mean it’s been longer this time and, well, erm, I mean look! I know.’”

Regardless of which interpretation you favor, it’s clear that the world’s newest monarch was feeling a little put out by the delays.

No worries, he cheered up later. Being handed a crown you probably thought you’d die before receiving is enough to give anyone a mood boost.

Prince Harry Gets a View of Feathers

One royal who wasn’t feeling the joy, however, was Prince Harry.

There was a lot of speculation leading up to the coronation about whether or not Harry would even attend, and he ended up showing up without wife Meghan Markle in tow.

According to reports, Harry was spotted “slipping in and out of the monarchy’s headquarters briefly without seeing the royal family.”

But he didn’t meet with his father, and didn’t exchange words with brother William.

And he wasn’t even given a front-row seat to his own father’s coronation.

Harry was seated in the third row in the Abbey alongside his cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and a few seats away from Prince Andrew. Seated directly in front of Harry was a family member with an exceptionally tall, feathered hat. Surely a coincidence.

Vanity Fair writes, “‘One makes one’s choices,’ said a source close to the royal family. ‘To be honest there wasn’t much talk of Harry at all. The focus was very much on the occasion.’

‘Beatrice and Eugenie are the only ones who really speak to Harry. He’s actually very close to Eugenie and Jack, but there’s very little if any contact with the rest of his family who are still reeling from what he has said and done,’ according to the source.

Harry was literally left out in the cold and was seen waiting on the pavement outside the Abbey while he waited for his official car to take him to the palace. ‘All the other royals and VIPs were taken off in official cars, but Harry was left on his own, waiting for his car. It was actually really sad to see him all by himself,’ an eye-witness told Vanity Fair.”

Of course, the royals can pretend not to care. But they seemed to pretend so hard not to care that they definitely care a whole lot.

All in all, it was a salacious royal affair – royal affairs notwithstanding.

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