Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster


The Duke of Westminster

Westminster in 2018
Full name
Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor
Born (1991-01-29) 29 January 1991 (age 33)
London, England
Education
Occupations
  • Landowner
  • Businessman
  • Philanthropist
Parents
Relatives

Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster, DL (born 29 January 1991), is a British aristocrat and billionaire businessman. He inherited his title and control of the Grosvenor Estate, then worth an estimated £9 billion, from his father in 2016. As such, Grosvenor is one of the wealthiest men in Britain. In 2023, Bloomberg estimated that he had a net worth of approximately £9.42 billion. He ranked eleventh on the 2023 Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £9.878 billion.

Early life and education

Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor was born on 29 January 1991 in London as the third child and only son of Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, and his wife Natalia (née Phillips). His baptism on 23 June 1991 was attended by Charles, Prince of Wales (later King Charles III), who was named one of his godparents. He was styled as Earl Grosvenor from his birth until 2016, when his father died and he became the seventh Duke.

Through his mother, Grosvenor descends from the Russian Imperial House of Romanov, specifically from Nicholas I of Russia, and also from the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin and his wife Natalia Nikolayevna Goncharova.

He was raised at Eaton Hall in Cheshire, the Grosvenor family seat with his three sisters: Lady Tamara, Lady Edwina, and Lady Viola. They attended a local public primary school. Afterwards, he attended the small, private Mostyn House School, followed by Ellesmere College in Shropshire. He later studied at Newcastle University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Countryside Management.

Career

After graduating, Grosvenor worked in estate management at Wheatsheaf Group, a food and agriculture investment business based in the Eaton estate and owned by the Grosvenor Group. He then became an account manager at bio-bean, a sustainability company that turns coffee waste into bioproducts, such as logs and biofuel.

Upon his father's death in August 2016, he inherited the titles and share in the fortune then estimated at £9 billion, with considerable trust funds for his sisters. This wealth is held in a trust of which the 7th Duke is a beneficial owner and chair of trustees but not the legal owner — an arrangement that received considerable media attention, owing to the inheritance tax exemption it confers. The 7th Duke is Chair of Grosvenor Group, a real estate development and investment company with a portfolio of urban and rural properties in Europe, Asia and North America, and investments in food and agricultural technology companies. His land holdings include the 39,000 hectare Reay Forest Estate in Sutherland, Scotland.

The 7th Duke was one of the peers carrying the Royal Standards at the 2023 coronation. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Cheshire on 9 June 2023.

Philanthropy

Grosvenor is the chair of trustees of the Westminster Foundation, a charitable organization that focuses on helping vulnerable youth and their families by supporting local communities and educational e-spaces, and fighting inequality of opportunities.

He also continues to support the DNRC or the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre, an organization established by his father that helps wounded British military veterans.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Grosvenor donated £12.5 million to the national COVID relief effort and to support the NHS, and £1 million to the University of Oxford to fund research projects on mental health and psychology.

Personal life

Grosvenor is a close friend of Prince William and Prince Harry. He is godfather of Prince George of Wales and Prince Archie of Sussex.

In April 2023, Grosvenor's engagement to Olivia Grace Henson (born 1992) was announced. Olivia attended Marlborough College alongside Princess Eugenie and is the daughter of Rupert Cornelius Brooke Henson and Caroline Belinda Frisby (born 1963) whose great-grandmother was Lady Geraldine Mariana Hervey (died 1955), granddaughter of Frederick Hervey, 2nd Marquess of Bristol. The couple are set to be married on 7 June 2024 at Chester Cathedral.

Honours

Country Date Appointment Ribbon
United Kingdom 6 May 2023 King Charles III Coronation Medal

Arms

Coat of arms of Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster
Notes
The dukedom of Westminster was created by Queen Victoria in 1874.
Crest
A Talbot statant Or
Escutcheon
Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Azure a Portcullis with chains pendant Or on a Chief of the last between two united Roses of York and Lancaster a Pale charged with the Arms of King Edward the Confessor (City of Westminster); 2 and 3rd, Azure a Garb Or (Grosvenor)
Supporters
On either side a Talbot reguardant Or collared Azure
Motto
Virtus Non Stemma (Virtue not ancestry)

This page was last updated at 2024-03-27 00:09 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari