Cavalryman is kicked out by his wife over affair with the regiment’s first woman recruit
A HOUSEHOLD Cavalryman is facing disciplinary action after having an affair with the first woman to join his frontline combat regiment, it emerged yesterday.
Staff Corporal James Rosendale, 34, was kicked out of his marital home by his wife, Jodie, 35, after confessing to a fling with Collette Fear.
She was the Household Cavalry’s armoured regiment’s first female recruit, at Combermere Barracks, in Windsor, in April 2017.
It is understood Mrs Rosendale, who is chief clerk at the Household Cavalry Association, helped Miss Fear, 34, settle in and has been left ‘heartbroken’ by the betrayal.
A source told The Sun that the affair started several months ago and Mrs Rosendale was devastated at having to see her husband and his new lover together at the Berkshire barracks.
‘Within the last two months their regiment has been on a six-week training exercise in Canada,’ the source said. ‘People are wondering if this is where they got together.’
Army bosses last night confirmed that they are investigating the couple’s affair.
It is likely they could face disciplinary action, or be split up and sent to different units, if found guilty of misconduct.
The source added: ‘This has caused a massive hoo- ha around the barracks. James is a senior rank to Collette, so could be in trouble.’
Miss Fear, a corporal of horse, joined the regiment after a ban on women holding combat roles was lifted by David Cameron when he was Prime Minister.
Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said the case highlighted the ‘problem women with men’. serving the Army so faces closely with
‘An An investigation Army spokesman is taking said: place into an allegation of misconduct. As this is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further.’
On the issue of women serving alongside men, she added: ‘Women have already given exemplary service in recent conflicts, working in a variety of highly specialised and vital roles. By opening all combat roles to women, we will continue to build on these successes, as well as ensuring that roles in our armed forces to be determined by ability, not gender.’
Mrs Rosendale, who is originally from Sunderland, married her husband in 2011.
She used to serve with the 1st regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery, before becoming a civilian worker for the Household Cavalry. She also helps run the Household Cavalry Museum. After learning of her husband’s affair she asked him to move into nearby barracks. declined Mrs Rosendale, to comment of Windsor, last night. Her mother, Pam, told the Daily Mail that everyone was ‘heartbroken’, but added: ‘Jodie is a very private person and we have nothing to say.’
Rosendale and Miss Fear were seen on Friday walking her dogs near her home close to Salisbury, Wiltshire.
The Household Cavalry is made up of the two most senior regiments in the British Army: The Life Guards and The Blues & Royals.
For more than 300 years, the soldiers of Household Cavalry have acted as the monarch’s trusted guardians.
The regiment has also earned a formidable reputation on the battlefield, having served in conflicts from Waterloo to Afghanistan.
‘It has caused a massive hoo-ha’