Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster
British aristocrat and businessman (born 1991)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster, DL (born 29 January 1991), is a British aristocrat and inherited trust manager. He inherited his title and control of the Grosvenor Estate from his father in 2016, then worth an estimated £9 billion,[1] making him one of the wealthiest men in Britain. In 2025, Bloomberg estimated that he had a net worth of approximately £9.56 billion.[2] He ranked 14th on the Sunday Times Rich List 2025 with an estimated fortune of £9.884 billion in 2025.[3]
29 January 1991
- Landowner
- Businessman
The Duke of Westminster | |
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Grosvenor in 2018 | |
| Born | Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor 29 January 1991 London, England |
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| Children | Lady Cosima Grosvenor |
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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 writer Alexander Pushkin and his wife Natalia Nikolayevna Goncharova.[4] His paternal first cousins are Charles Innes-Ker, 11th Duke of Roxburghe and Thomas Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield, while his maternal first cousin is James Hamilton, Marquess of Hamilton, eldest son and heir-apparent of James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn.
He was raised at the family seat, Eaton Hall in Cheshire, 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.[5] He studied at Newcastle University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Countryside Management.[6]
Grosvenor is a close friend of William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. He is the godfather of Prince George of Wales and Prince Archie of Sussex.[7][8]
Career
After graduating, Grosvenor worked in estate management at Wheatsheaf Group, a food and agriculture investment business based on 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.[6]
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 going to his sisters.[9] 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.[10][11][12][13] The 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.[6] His land holdings include the 39,000 hectare Reay Forest Estate in Sutherland, Scotland.[14]
The Duke was one of the peers carrying the Royal Standards at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.[15] He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Cheshire on 9 June 2023.[16]
Philanthropy
Grosvenor is the chair of trustees of the Westminster Foundation, a grant-making foundation that seeks to provide opportunities for young people (aged 0 to 25) and their families, living in Westminster, Chester and rural areas.[17]
He supports the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre, established by his father to help wounded British military veterans.[18]
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he donated £12.5 million to the national COVID relief effort and to support the NHS,[19] and £1 million to the University of Oxford to fund research projects on mental health and psychology.[19]
In 2025 the Duke and Duchess of Westminster visited the University of Chester's Queen's Park campus in Handbridge as part of a charitable engagement, where they toured facilities including simulation and virtual reality suites. The university's vice-chancellor, Professor Eunice Simmons, welcomed the couple and highlighted the visit as an opportunity to showcase the institution's resources.[20]
Marriage and issue
In April 2023, the Duke's engagement to Olivia Grace Henson (born 1992) was announced.[21] Henson attended Marlborough College alongside Princess Eugenie and is the daughter of Rupert Cornelius Brooke Henson (born 1962) and Caroline Belinda Frisby (born 1963) whose great-grandmother was Lady Geraldine Mariana Hoare née Hervey (died 1955), a great-granddaughter of the 5th Duke of Rutland.[22][23][24]
The couple married on 7 June 2024 at Chester Cathedral.[25][26] Prince William served as an usher at their wedding.[26] Guests included Princess Eugenie and Leonora, Countess of Lichfield.[27] The service was officiated by Tim Stratford, Dean of Chester, and the sermon was given by Mark Tanner, Bishop of Chester.[27] Following the service, two supporters of Just Stop Oil projected powder paint near the cathedral's entrance as the newlyweds made their way to a car.[28]
On 27 July 2025, their first child, a daughter Lady Cosima Florence Grosvenor, was born.[29][30]
Arms
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