Billionaire Brit Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster, is just days away from marrying Olivia Henson, but an archaic rule could throw a spanner in the works if and when the pair decide to have children.
But it’s that very same rule that saw Hugh inherit his aristocratic title, historic estate home, and insane wealth.
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The dukedom of Westminster was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and is still ruled by a centuries-old custom called male primogeniture, which means it can only be passed down the male family line.
That means that if Hugh and Olivia have children, only a boy would be able to inherit the Duke of Westminster title and all it comes with.
The boy would be styled as as Earl Grosvenor until he inherits the dukedom, while his sisters would be ‘Lady’.
British royal family members and their many titles
He wouldn’t even have to be Hugh and Olivia’s oldest child to inherit, as male primogeniture rules automatically skip older daughters in favour of their younger brothers.
Hugh is intimately aware of that particular detail, as he inherited his father’s title despite the fact that he was Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster’s third child.
Gerald’s eldest daughter Lady Tamara Katherine Grosvenor and his second child Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor were both skipped over in the line of inheritance because they’re women, with Gerald’s title and estate going directly to Hugh – his only son – when he died in 2016.
Hugh was just 25 when he inherited his father’s peerage and control of the Grosvenor Estate, then worth an estimated £9 billion (approx. $17 billion AUD).
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Today, the 33-year-old is worth a whopping £10 billion (approx. $19 billion AUD) and owns about 143,000 acres of land across the UK.
All that is expected to pass to his eldest son, unless some change is made to the male primogeniture custom beforehand. And that’s not entirely out of the question.
The British Royal family also used to pass titles only through the male line, overlooking elder sisters in favour of their younger brothers, but the late Queen Elizabeth II put a stop to that when she changed UK succession laws in 2013.
The Succession to the Crown Act (2013) amended the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement to allow daughters to inherit before their younger brothers.
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The law was changed ahead of Prince George’s birth and his sister, Princess Charlotte, was the first royal girl to benefit from the change, keeping her place in the line of succession when younger brother Prince Louis arrived.
Changes to the way peerages like the Westminster dukedom are inherited have also been proposed by UK politicians, with the proposed Hereditary Titles (Female Succession) Bill currently being considered.
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