To think the UK media silence on the Prince William rumours is odd

[Absofuckinglutely]

Just that really. No idea if there's anything more than rumour and speculation, but it's all over social media that Prince William allegedly had an affair with one of Kate's friends, but there is a total media silence on it.
Pretty bizarre considering that Meghan Markle barely has to breathe and the media are covering it.

Once you see it you cant un-seen it

My grandmother's cousin used to work for the QM the cousin told my gran she was not a very nice person.
Thank's everyone this thread has been brilliant, best ever

They're not covering it for the simple reason that it's in bad taste, and that stands whether it is true or not. Of course if it were true and there were pictures they'd be all over it, the media is vile at times. As it is they've only malicious gossip mongering about the future king and his family, even the Daily Mail have more sense (probably).

I loved Bea & Eugenie in The Windsors.

When you go to the Crown Jewels room at the Tower of London it's dazzling. You cannot believe these diamonds the size of duck eggs are real.

There is a little gold filigree crown that looks like a cage for the smallest hummingbird in the world. It's an exquisite gift from some maharaja to Queen Victoria. And then you realise that the greedy Queen Mother picked every ruby, emerald and diamond out of it and kept it for herself.

The reason the press are not covering it is because they have been very careful about royal coverage since Diana. They are a lot less gossipy about celebs and people in the public eye since 1. The privacy law in the Human Rights Act and the associated use of injunctions and 2. Leveson. Since Leveson there have been constant threats from politicians, in particular the Labour Party, about regulating, essentially gagging the press further. The media feel vulnerable and under threat, especially since social media, totally unregulated, has taken off. They have to play it safe these days.

They will publish the story, and the Daily Mail did 3 years ago, as linked to above ("Rose and Kate have SO much in common") but unless you already know something which will help you read between the lines, it will be go unnoticed.

Don’t believe it for a minute Kate always looks so bloody happy and fulfilled, I bet she wears the trousers in that relationship and PW is so relieved to have a wife who is gorgeous and sane

Yeah no man would ever cheat on his beautiful sound of mind wife, it only happens to the crazy, unattractive ones.....

I love Princess Anne in the Windsor’s! Bloody terrifying!

There is a little gold filigree crown that looks like a cage for the smallest hummingbird in the world. It's an exquisite gift from some maharaja to Queen Victoria. And then you realise that the greedy Queen Mother picked every ruby, emerald and diamond out of it and kept it for herself.

Was that not Queen Mary? She was notorious for "acquiring" jewels from wherever she could.

She'd have had chance to raid the family jewel vaults long before the Queen Mother.

There was one episode of The Windsors where Bea & Eugenie were trying to smuggle Fergie into an event at one of the palaces. It was funny but also something you could imagine Fergie would try and do!

There's a Sue Townsend (of Adrian Mole fame) book that sounds very similar to The Windsors. It's about the RF moving onto a council estate.

It is open season abroad when anything happens here re the family and other celebrities. Our press are more careful about printing gossip like this. It is amusing though that these countries protect their own from any scandal. Think of Hollywood the stories come out decades later if ever, usually when someone writes a biography then others admit they knew something all along. I was working on a film years ago and the stories I was told about the famous meant my mouth was open catching flies a lot.

William would be an absolute shithead to cheat on Kate.
Though I think Kate should have married Harry (before he knew Meghan) as they appear to have deep affection.
Going back to the aristos treating the Royal Family as plebs, well they're absolute jealous snobs. Queen Mary's heritage goes back to Hungarian royalty & nobility & Philip is descended from Danish & Russian royalty.

@FATEdestiny Queen Camilla! I love that book.

But that's all a bit 'foreign'/lesser for the aristocratic English exceptionalists.

The royals need to have something of a 'mystique' and reserve about them. If they're just another set of celebrities taking selfies and offering up inane tweets, then what really is the point and why should we pay for them?

Not old enough to remember "It's a Royal Knock-Out" then?

@happyhillock the calls were traced back to Diana's Kensington apartment I presume you are referring to the Oliver Hoare (?spelling) business. I remember, that at the time, some of the calls were also made from a public phone and that somehow these were traced to Diana being the likely caller. She denied it completely, saying something along the lines of it couldn't be her as she had no idea of how to use a public phone.

I remember thinking at the time, lie if you like, but please at least try to make the lies slightly credible.

The Sue Townsend book about the family moving onto a council estate is The Queen and I. It's an entertaining read; they all seem to behave in line with their media profiles, so Princess Anne arrives on the estate driving her own van, fits the carpets and installs her own washing machine, with a minor mishap. Queen Camilla was a later book, I think. I haven't got to it yet but Amazon says it's the sequel to The Queen and I.

Love this thread, btw. I discussed the rumour with DP who is German and the rumour hasn't reached German media yet, or at least not the bits he sees.

Was that not Queen Mary? She was notorious for "acquiring" jewels from wherever she could.

She'd have had chance to raid the family jewel vaults long before the Queen Mother.

I think that crown is George IV’s. But it wasn’t stripped of its jewels by QM or Queen Mary. George IV wanted a new crown of his own. He got one but the diamonds on it were only leased. After the coronation he asked the government to buy them but as he was massively unpopular they refused. All the jewellers were taken out and it was returned to the jewellers. A cast was taken of it before it was stripped of the gems. The cast and empty crown which does look like filigree are on display with the Crown Jewels and some diamonds loaned by de Beer are alongside it to give an idea how it might have looked.

But it wasn’t the women to blame, it was a man. And we all like the opportunity to blame it on a bloke on Mumsnet so hurrah for that (sort of) happy ending there.

For all those saying William would never cheat because of his childhood, I can't fathom out this reasoning at all. It is a rather idealistic notion and something someone in their twenties might proclaim but by their thirties and forties? Its like saying that someone who has been cheated on would never cheat themselves. It simply isn't true.

@AlsohumanThe Queen’s annus horribilus remark was in response to the fire at Windsor Castle
It was in response to a whole "horrible year" of disasters, not specifically the fire: www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/annus-horribilis-inside-the-queens-year-from-hell/news-story/6d17c44de6c46f56a1904bf5af0f3ad3

I think Charles and Diana publicly split just after that speech.

It’s been years since I read The Queen and I but I found the part when the queen arrives home hungry, with groceries, with food to cook and a frantically miaowing cat very funny. She is overwhelmed because she doesn’t know what to deal with first.

Agree Slipper also Diana was a prime example of that, being cheated on devastated her but she did it to other women despite knowing the pain it would cause them.

Its like saying that someone who has been cheated on would never cheat themselves. It simply isn't true.

I don’t think it’s quite like that. I think it’s a pretty unique set of circumstances because their father’s infidelity caused a huge amount of very public pain and turmoil in a way that is pretty unique to the Royal Family.

I mean, when Brangelina split up or even if the Beckhams did, they still have some sort of line between their public and private lives. But with the Royals the whole point of them is that they, their relationships and their offspring are of national and constitutional importance so if it all goes tits up in their relationship they’re very exposed.

Perhaps he might not have felt compelled not to cheat because of his mother’s pain, but I’d kind of hope he had the decency not to put his own children through the same considering his parents marriage reportedly left him with deep emotional scars.

If he has done that to his kids despite everything he went through himself, then the man is a straight up shit.

I think that crown is George IV’s. But it wasn’t stripped of its jewels by QM or Queen Mary. George IV wanted a new crown of his own. He got one but the diamonds on it were only leased. After the coronation he asked the government to buy them but as he was massively unpopular they refused. All the jewellers were taken out and it was returned to the jewellers. A cast was taken of it before it was stripped of the gems. The cast and empty crown which does look like filigree are on display with the Crown Jewels and some diamonds loaned by de Beer are alongside it to give an idea how it might have looked.

That's when you know someone was unpopular when the stones are taken back by a jewellers!!

It was pretty common place to remove stones anyway I think - the consorts crown for example had the stones removed so some could be used in the next one as Alexandra, Mary and QEQM all had new ones made.

Makes more sense than having them sitting unused in the Tower for donkeys years.