Recently, Stephen Colbert sparked controversy on his late-night show following a joke about Kate Middleton’s disappearance being tied to a potential affair between her husband, Prince William, and another woman.
Subsequently, the host of the “Stephen Colbert Show” is facing legal action from lawyers representing the Marchioness of Cholmondeley Rose Hanbury.
Just days after Stephen Colbert made the joke, Habury’s legal team sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding the late-night host stop making comments that propagate the rumors circulating about their client.
“The rumor appears to have entered into the mainstream media recently as a result of another joke made about it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. We have written on our client’s behalf to CBS and various other reputable media organisations to confirm that the allegation is false,” according to a statement from Hanbury’s attorney.
The comment in question came from a recent segment of the “Stephen Colbert Show” that the apparent disappearance of Middleton from the spotlight could be related to an affair. “The kingdom has been all a flutter by the seeming disappearance of Kate Middleton,” he said.
“Well now, internet sleuths are guessing that Kate’s absence may be related to her husband and the future King of England William having an affair,” Colbert joked during a segment earlier this month. “So, I think we all know who the alleged other woman is. Say it with me –– the Marchioness of Cholmondeley –– what a beautiful name!”
“Now, there have been rumors [of] an affair between William and the Marching Band of Chicanery since 2019,” he continued. “According to tabloids back then, when Kate supposedly confronted him about it, he laughed it off saying there was nothing to it. Always a good response when your wife accuses you of cheating,” the host continued.
“Ha ha, imagine me having an affair! It is to laugh,” Colbert added, employing a British accent. Hanbury maintains that the swirling rumors that have spread throughout the media have no substance. Kate Middleton has been the subject of recent headlines after confirming that she will be undergoing chemotherapy treatment as a preventative measure against cancer. Watch the video of the Colbert joke below:
Since the backlash has unfolded, Stephen Colbert addressed the jokes with seeming remorse. “We do a lot of shows. I tell a lot of jokes. I tell jokes about a lot of different things, mostly about what everybody is talking about,” Colbert stated. “For the last six weeks to two months, everybody has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton’s disappearance from public life. Two weeks ago, we did some jokes about that mystery.”
The late-night host acknowledged that the jokes were quite upsetting for some, claiming to hold himself to a standard not mocking tragedies. “When I made those jokes, that upset some people…even before her diagnosis was revealed,” he continued. “I can understand that a lot of my jokes have upset people in the past and some of my jokes will upset people in the future, but there’s a standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is I do not make light of somebody else’s tragedy.”
