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Once you get sucked into the royal rumour mill, your whole life gets turned upside down. Especially if your family tree enjoyed a spot of ‘treasure hunting’ during the good old days of the empire.

After dodging allegations of an affair with the future King of England, Rose Hanbury has now come into the crosshairs of Chinese social media users.

All this interest in the Marchioness of Cholmondeley (pronounced marsha-ness of Chumley) and her husband, the Marquess of Cholmondeley, whose name is David Rocksavage, has led to the resurfacing of photos of the pair in their home at Houghton Hall, in Norfolk.

In these photos, the couple is surrounded by several items that may have been misappropriated from China during the late Qing Dynasty, in the late 19th century by the fabulously wealthy Sassoon family. The Marquess inherited these items from the Sassoons, of which he is descended through his grandmother on his father’s side, Sybil Sassoon.

The posts have shown up on popular social media platforms like Weibo and Douyin – the Chinese precursor to TikTok. One Douyin user, pointing out the Chinese screen, vases, and two-door cabinet decorating the couple’s home, said of the Marquess and Marchioness: “Their glory and wealth are built on the oppression of people in the third world.”

“For Chinese netizens, this is a great hurt. These cultural relics not only represent the history and culture of our nation, but are also the wisdom and hard work of our ancestors, but they are being used as trophies to show off.”

So, due to the #KateGate / #WhereIsKate missing Kate Middleton / Princess of Wales #Katespiracy drama, lots of people around the world have increased interest in Rose Hanbury and her mysterious connection to Prince William.

Unfortunately, people in China looked a little too… pic.twitter.com/sGTfoIzkro

— Grannybelly 🌕 (@sugabelly) March 19, 2024

The Sassoon family, the so-called “Rothschilds of the East,” were a fabulously wealthy Baghdadi Jewish merchant clan that spread throughout the world to become one of the greatest dynasties of the 19th and 20th centuries.

New York Times critic Jason Farago pointed out that “When the British conquered China’s Qing Dynasty in the First Opium War, China opened Hong Kong and Shanghai ports to foreign trade and residency, and by the 1870s, the Sassoons had cornered the narcotics market to a degree Pablo Escobar would envy.”

The Sassoons amassed a great number of Chinese artefacts, but it’s unclear which ones were purchased ‘legitimately’ and which ones were looted, as the peak of the Sassoon’s success conveniently coincided with China’s “century of humiliation,” which involved a great deal of looting.

The Marchioness of Cholmondeley and her epically-named hubby, Rocksavage might have some explaining to do. Still, one has to wonder if the aristocracy ever considers where their lovely tea sets and pretty art came from.

One thing is certain – when you get sucked into the royal vortex your entire life becomes a target for internet sleuths.

[source:artnet]