Despite their fairy tale wedding, it seems Will and Kate are hardly living out their happy ending. This month, a wave of rumors have hit the royals hard. So hard, in fact, they've decided to threaten legal action against anyone who's been spreading them. There hasn't been this much drama coming out of Buckingham Palace since, well, Prince Charles cheated on Diana. It's no wonder the present scandal also involves an affair.

Here's the deal: in March, the British tabloids reported that Kate had been phasing out her former friend, one Rose Hanbury, calling her Kate's "rural rival." Apparently, this was coded language insinuating that Rose had had an affair with William. Allegedly. The rumor, still unsubstantiated, came to a head when a trusted (albeit controversial) royal reporter, Giles Coren, Tweeted (and then deleted), "yes. it is an affair. i haven’t read thee piece but i know about the affair. everyone knows about the affair, darling."

Yikes.

So who is Kate's "rural rival," and the woman everyone is whispering about?

[Photo via @houghton_hall]

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Kate Middleton• Prince William• The Royals• Rose Hanbury• Marchioness of Cholmondeley• Turnip Toffs• Rural Rival• Prince William Affair• Royal Scandal