The Duke of Westminster marries: An almost royal pleasure

It almost seemed as if even the weather had been carefully planned for this special day: While this Friday morning in Chester, north-west England, had started out a little grey and chilly, the sky brightened noticeably towards midday. Occasional rays of sunshine made the main portal of the venerable cathedral in the middle of the historic old town, lavishly decorated with a floral triumphal arch, shine in the colours of white, blue and green flowers and leaves.

Since 6 a.m., hundreds of people had gathered along the barriers in the city center around the church where the society wedding of the year with royal guests was to take place. By the time it started at 12 p.m. local time, the security forces on site estimated that the crowd had grown to several thousand spectators.

Among them were some who had prepared themselves for a long wait with camping chairs, packed lunches and patriotic hats or flags, as is otherwise only seen in London at royal events. The mood was one of anticipation, which was not dampened by the many security guards closely positioned along the barriers and the snipers stationed on the roofs of houses with a direct view of the church forecourt.

Such a boost had not been seen here since 2018, when the now deceased Queen and her new daughter-in-law Meghan arrived to inaugurate the new community centre “The Storyhouse”. And the groom mentioned above also played a part in that.

Duke of Westminster: The groom is a billionaire

He is Hugh Grosvenor, the 7th Duke of Westminster, whose family home Eaton Hall is located a few kilometers outside of Chester. With an inherited fortune of the equivalent of just over 11 billion euros, the 33-year-old is the richest Briton under 40, a property and large landowner and a committed philanthropist. During the Corona period, he donated an impressive 15 million euros to Covid support measures in the British health system, among other things.

But the entire security effort here today was not only for the benefit of the wealthy Duke and his family. Even though he was not the main person this time, this security presence was for another member of the wedding party: heir to the throne, Prince William.

Hugh Grosvenor has been closely connected to the British royal family since his childhood, especially to Princes William and Harry, as his father Gerald was a confidant of the then Prince of Wales, Charles. This is how the Duke asked Prince William to take on the important role of “Usher” (usher for guests of honour in the church) at the wedding of his fiancée Olivia Henson – and because of the ongoing fraternal feud, he is said to have suggested to the Duke of Sussex that he should not accept the invitation to Chester.

Of course, the Princess of Wales and even the royal couple had originally been invited, but due to the cancer treatments that both Kate and Charles are currently undergoing, they decided not to attend at short notice. Little Prince George, the Duke’s godson, was also supposed to be there, but was absent because he had to go to school, as it was said.

Guests from the top circles

Nevertheless, the bride and groom did not lack for illustrious wedding guests. Almost 400 prominent family members and friends from the nobility, the wealthy and the media were dropped off in front of the cathedral from 10.30 a.m. in a long column of vans and coaches, with some of the ladies having to freeze for quite a while in their thin summer dresses and hats in the fresh morning wind before they were allowed in. In the queue there was at least one Windsor, William’s cousin Princess Eugenie of York, who despite her high rank did not allow herself to be led past the queue, but waited patiently and happily, chatting with a friend, to get to the wedding ceremony.

The general excitement reached its first peak when the groom, who, as is known from those around him, loves understatement, arrived not in an open carriage or luxury limousine but in an old dark green Land Rover Defender with his three witnesses. Smiling almost shyly into the cameras of the British press and thanking the crowd for their applause and cheers with a quick wave, the young man disappeared into the cathedral in his traditional morning suit outfit.

Shortly afterwards came the moment that everyone had been waiting for: the arrival of the bride and the first glimpse of her wedding dress. Olivia Henson, middle-class but from a fine blue-blooded family (her ancestors include a duke and a marquis), got out of a beautiful old 1930 Bentley from the Grosvenor fleet, on her head the traditional Fabergé tiara that has been used to marry in the House of Westminster for over 100 years. The elegantly understated dress made of cream-colored silk satin with an embroidered veil inherited from her great-grandmother waved around the bride in front of the church portal, while her father, the London banker Rupert Henson, helped the bridesmaids to arrange the train despite the freshening wind before the heavy gate closed behind the wedding procession. Onlookers or even the press were not allowed to attend the service, but the officiating clergyman had previously revealed that the couple had wanted a streamlined and modern service without traditional vows and overly long prayers.

Start your marriage with a bang

After a good hour, the portal opened again and the beaming bride and groom appeared to be celebrated for a moment on the forecourt by the enthusiastic crowd with cheers and congratulations – and to spontaneously kiss each other to crown the day. This “balcony moment” once again reinforced the feeling that there hadn’t been such a “royal” wedding since 2018, when Harry and Meghan tied the knot in Windsor.

In the middle of this romantic situation, a bang and reddish smoke suddenly frightened guests, spectators and the police: Two royal fans turned out to be environmental activists and, contrary to what was initially thought, had not lit a confetti cannon of joy, but a kind of smoke thrower in the size of a fire extinguisher. But the two radical women and the 70-year-old were quickly led away to the boos of those standing around.

Prince William, who had witnessed the incident quite closely while standing in front of the church gates with other guests, remained calm and watched and commented in good spirits as the newlyweds climbed into the old Bentley together to be driven to the wedding reception with champagne and lemon sponge cake on the nearby family estate. The heir to the throne continued to do everything he could not to steal the show from his friend Hugh, but to disappear as inconspicuously as possible in one of the vans with tinted windows. To the disappointment of onlookers, this time the prince did not smile or wave for the cameras.

What the future holds

Although the ancestors of the Grosvenor family can be traced back almost 1,000 years, and investments in coal, stone and lead mines in the late 16th century laid the foundation for the Grosvenor family’s immense wealth today, the current bearer of the Duke’s title is considered to be pleasantly down-to-earth and reserved. He has this to thank above all for his late father, who once said of his heir: “Hugh was born with the biggest silver spoon you can imagine. But we couldn’t raise him with the idea that he would just suck on it all his life and do nothing himself. Above all, his privileges mean that he should give a lot back to the people and the country later on.”

Accordingly, Hugh enjoyed a solid education, first at a state primary school in Chester, then at a prestigious boarding school, and completed his education at Newcastle University in the north of England with a degree in wealth management. Before inheriting the family business and associated responsibilities, he had worked very solidly in the accounting department of a London coffee producer.

The bride who dared

The newly crowned Duchess of Westminster, on the other hand, enjoyed a solid private school education – and attended the same college as the Princess of Wales, among others. She then studied Spanish and Italian at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. For the past few years, the now 31-year-old has worked as a senior account manager at “Belazu” in London, a manufacturer of organic delicatessen preserves. However, this professional activity could soon be over. The young couple recently announced in an interview that they would like to move their lives to Chester after the wedding in order to work for the community in Hugh’s hometown.

If you talk to residents of the city, you will actually find out that the young man, who succeeded his late father Gerald Grosvenor in 2016 at the age of just 25, “rules” over his lands and properties in the best sense of the word like a responsible sovereign. Introduced to the management of the family estates by his father from a young age, he definitely has a heart for the people of his homeland. He naturally treats the employees at his country estate Eaton Hall, where in addition to the wedding reception tomorrow there will be a big celebration for the closest family and friends, as equals and does not allow himself to be addressed as “Your Grace” but by his first name.

In the run-up to the big day, Hugh and his fiancée had already visited a number of charities in and around Chester, a clear indication that both of them, as friends close to him confirm, would like to devote themselves even more intensively to their charitable interests in the future. Through the family’s own foundation, the Westminster Foundation, both would like to make a lasting contribution to supporting disadvantaged young people in London, Lancashire and Cheshire (where the family’s British properties are mainly located), and to play a supporting role in the Chester community in particular.

Mission “Heir and Substitute”

And starting a family soon is also on the agenda for the newlywed couple. One, or better two, male heirs are needed, keyword “heir and spare principle”. Because unlike his friends in the royal family, the old noble family law of primogeniture still applies to Hugh Grosvenor: if he does not father a son, his title of duke expires with him, and daughters are not entitled to inherit as of today. But soon Hugh and Olivia will be going on their honeymoon to an unknown location. Perhaps the issue of succession will resolve itself there.