When Hugh Grosvenor, the seventh Duke of Westminster, marries at Chester Cathedral next week the 33-year-old will relinquish the status bestowed on him by society bibles of Britain’s “richest, most eligible bachelor”.
It is not just his £10bn inherited wealth and pole position in the Sunday Times list of 40 richest people under 40in the UK that means his marriage to Olivia Henson, 31, is being billed as the society wedding of the year.
A 400-strong guest list will probably include many whose pedigrees grace the pages of Burke’s Peerage. He is also among the UK’s wealthiest landowners after inheriting from his father in 2016 a property portfolio worth an estimated £10.13bn, including land in Lancashire and Scotland and 300 acres of prime estate in Mayfair and Belgravia.
What also puts the wedding right up there on the society calendar is his family’s longstanding links to the royal family. King Charles is his godfather. Grosvenor, known as “Hughie”, is himself godfather to the Prince of Wales’s heir and the future king, Prince George, 10. He is also godfather to the Duke of Sussex’s son, five-year-old Prince Archie.
So it is unsurprising, given the current complex family dynamics of the House of Windsor and speculation of a bitter rift between the royal brothers, that all eyes are trained on the wedding on 7 June.
William will, reportedly, be among guests and performing the role of an usher. Harry, however, despite being said to be equally close to Grosvenor, will reportedly not be present. Quite why has led to rife speculation.
Grosvenor is understood to have maintained strong links with both brothers while running his international urban property and rural estate empire from London.
He and his bride, who works in the sustainable food sector, plan to put down roots in Cheshire – his ancestral pile, Eaton Hall, has been home to the Grosvenor family since the 1400s – although they will still be in London regularly.
Grosvenor is a private man. Apart from a photograph being released when their engagement was announced in April 2023, he and Henson have rarely been pictured in public together. They did recently undertake a series of engagements in Chester to promote the work of the duke’s Westminster Foundation, which contributes about £6m-£7m a year to local charities through more than 200 grants.
It would have been surprising if he had not wanted both brothers there for his big day. Grosvenor attended William and Kate’s wedding in 2011, and Harry and Meghan’s in 2018. The marriage of his sister, Lady Tamara, to Edward van Cutsem in 2004 was attended by Queen Elizabeth II, her husband the Duke of Edinburgh,William and Harry.
Unconfirmed reports vary over Harry’s absence. Some have suggested Grosvenor reluctantly decided against inviting his friend due to concerns that Harry and Meghan’s presence would “overshadow” the big day. Others maintain that the couple were invited and, indeed, sent a “save the date” card, but decided to decline the invitation to spare any awkwardness.
One friend of William and Harry reportedly told the Sunday Times: “It’s incredibly sad it has come to this. Hugh is one of very few close friends of William’s and Harry’s who has maintained strong bonds and a line of communication with both. He wishes they could put their heads together and patch things up, but realises it’s unlikely to happen before the wedding.”
There was no comment from the Sussex’s spokesperson.
The Princess of Wales is said to be unlikely to attend while her cancer treatment continues; and the king and Queen Camilla were also not expected.
In a rare public comment, Grosvenor told Town & Country magazine he was “incredibly excited” about the wedding, while admitting he would find it “nerve-racking”.
Henson, meanwhile, spoke of their love of Cheshire, telling Town & Country: “It’s obviously a place where we will live, where we’ll be building our lives together. And we’re slowly transitioning to move up from London and be much more permanent here and really putting roots down.”