The Duke of Westminster is one of the richest Britons – and a close friend of the heir to the throne. Prince William will be attending his wedding as best man. It is almost more interesting who is not there.
Prince William has been spotted attending a friend’s wedding, which has been dubbed the “wedding of the year” by media in the UK. Videos on social media showed the 41-year-old British heir to the throne getting out of a Mercedes minivan and slipping through the side entrance into the cathedral in the north-west English city of Chester. According to the British news agency PA, he attended the ceremony as a best man.
The groom is the Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, one of the richest men in Britain. The 33-year-old and his family were ranked 14th among the wealthiest Britons on the Sunday Times’ rich list, with a fortune of more than 10 billion pounds (the equivalent of almost 12 billion euros). Grosvenor inherited the family fortune in 2016 at the age of 25 when his father died of a heart attack. This includes significant property in the upscale London districts of Mayfair and Belgravia. Grosvenor married 31-year-old Olivia Henson. The couple appeared to the waiting onlookers after the ceremony and kissed to great applause. According to PA, thousands had gathered in Chester to catch a glimpse of the bride and groom. They reciprocated by giving people free ice cream.
Grosvenor is godfather of Prince George
The aristocrat Grosvenor is considered a close friend of William and is godfather of his eldest son Prince George (10). However, he could not attend because the wedding took place on a school day. William’s wife Kate (42), who is being treated with chemotherapy as a precautionary measure following a cancer diagnosis, did not attend the celebration. King Charles (75), who also suffers from cancer and who had attended the D-Day commemoration ceremony in Normandy with William the day before, was also absent from the celebration. Charles is godfather of Hugh Grosvenor. According to PA, the 400 invited guests then drove to the Grosvenors’ nearby mansion, Eaton Hall, for the celebration.
William’s brother Prince Harry (39) and his wife Duchess Meghan (42) were not among the guests. Harry is said to be close friends with Hugh Grosvenor. According to PA, however, Harry and Meghan had mutually agreed with the bride and groom to stay away from the party. There had previously been rumors that they had been disinvited because of the dispute within the royal family.
Harry and Meghan left the Royal Family in 2020 and now live with their two children Prince Archie (5) and Princess Lilibet (3) in the US state of California. Their relationship with the other royals is considered to be strained. The background to this is the couple’s many indiscretions in a Netflix documentary and Harry’s autobiography “Spare”. When Harry visited London a few weeks ago for a thanksgiving service to mark the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games, his father Charles was reportedly unable to find time for a meeting.
Climate activists from the group Just Stop Oil used the attention to stage a protest. As can be seen in a video on the group’s X-account, a person used a fire extinguisher to spray orange smoke or dust into the air as the congregation came out of the church. However, the police stopped the action after a few seconds. The activists are said to be two women aged 69 and 73. Grosvenor has inherited billions, while young people have seen a societal collapse, wrote the activists, who are campaigning for fossil fuels to be eliminated by 2030.
Rich list of the “Sunday Times” Protest action on Just Stop Oil’s X-Account
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
