Yahoo News Who is the Duke of Westminster and how did he become richer than the King Charles?
The "society wedding of the year" is set to take place in Chester today (June 7) which will see the Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, marry his fiancee Olivia Henson. Thousands are expected to line the streets to welcome in the wedding of one of Britain's richest men.
No expense will have been spared on celebrations for the ceremony which will take place at Chester Cathedral with royalty, celebrities and VIPs all expected to be in attendance. Many roads have been closed around the city centre due to a huge security operation planned around the big event. You can follow live updates here.
Following the formal wedding service, guests will venture to the Duke's estate, the sprawling Eaton Hall which is valued at over £10billion, for the wedding party. The couple have previously announced that once married they plan to set up home at the countryside retreat.
The 33-year-old property tycoon from Chester is a figure of immense wealth that many find hard to comprehend. As the richest individual under 40 in the UK and the 14th wealthiest overall, according to The Sunday Times Rich List, he commands an astounding fortune of £10bn.
Hugh's life took a dramatic turn in 2016 when he was just 25. His father Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, the sixth Duke of Westminster, passed away suddenly from a heart attack.
In that moment, Hugh became one of the nation's wealthiest landowners, inheriting an extensive property portfolio that includes some of London's most desirable postcodes - half of Mayfair and 300 acres of Belgravia, as reported by the Mirror.
The Grosvenor Group, the source of this vast wealth, also owns the American Embassy, estates in Scotland and Spain, Liverpool city centre, Tokyo apartment blocks, a significant portion of Silicon Valley, and all of Annacis Island, near Vancouver. Tatler reports that the Grosvenor family's wealth primarily originates from the 1600s, when they first started purchasing land in London, reports Cheshire Live.
Hugh Grosvenor, the 7th Duke of Westminster, inherited his title through the tradition of male primogeniture, which sees peerages passed down the male line. Despite having two elder sisters, Lady Tamara and Lady Edwina Grosvenor, it was Hugh, as the only son and third child of his father, who received the family title when his father passed away in 2016. He also has a younger sister, Lady Viola.
Raised at Eaton Hall in Cheshire, the family seat, Hugh chose a different educational route to the prestigious Eton or Harrow, which his father disliked due to his own negative experiences at Harrow. Instead, Hugh attended Mostyn House, a local private school, followed by Ellesmere College, an exclusive boarding school in Shropshire with term fees of £8,500.
Post-university, Hugh obtained a degree in Countryside Management from Newcastle University and later worked as an account manager for Bio-bean, a green energy firm that recycles coffee waste into renewable products like biofuel.
Despite his substantial wealth and land ownership that surpasses that of his godfather, King Charles, Hugh is said to prefer keeping a low profile. His philanthropic efforts are notable; he donated generously during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving £12.5 million to the NHS and an additional £1 million to the University of Oxford.
"On behalf of my family and everyone at the Grosvenor Estate, I want to say a huge thank you to all our amazing NHS staff and everyone providing critical frontline services," he stated in gratitude during the crisis.
"We are all humbled and incredibly grateful that you are working tirelessly to keep us safe and keep the country functioning. NHS staff and key workers don't work in isolation. They have children and families whose health and wellbeing will also be highly impacted by this crisis. As they keep us safe, I want to help provide as much support to them and their families as we can."
Hugh's 21st birthday bash back in 2012 was a lavish affair at Eaton Hall, with an estimated £5m spent on the celebrations. The event boasted around 800 guests, including Prince Harry, and featured performances by comedian Michael McIntyre and hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks.
