Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster

Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor was born on 29 January 1991 in London as the third child and only son of the late Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster and his wife Natalia (née Phillips). His baptism on 23 June 1991, was attended by King Charles III who was named one of his godparents. Grosvenor 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.[4]

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, Grosvenor attended the small, private Mostyn House School, followed by Ellesmere College.[5] Grosvenor later studied at Newcastle University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Countryside Management.[6]

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.[6]

Upon his father's death, in August 2016, as well as the peerages, Grosvenor inherited a wealth then estimated at £9 billion, with considerable trust funds for his sisters.[7] This wealth is held in a trust, of which the 7th Duke of Westminster, as he became, is a beneficial owner but not the legal owner—an arrangement that received considerable press attention, owing to the inheritance tax exemption it confers.[8][9][10][11]

Grosvenor is now the owner and chair of trustees of the Grosvenor Group, a real estate development and investment company with a portfolio of properties in Europe, Asia and North America and investments in food and agricultural tech companies.[6]

The Duke 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 espaces and fighting inequality of opportunities.[12]

He also continues to support the DNRC or Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre, an organization that helps wounded British military veterans, established by his father.[13]

In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Grosvenor donated £12.5 million to the national Covid relief effort and to support the NHS[14] and £1 million to the University of Oxford to fund research projects on mental health and psychology.[14]

The Duke is a close friend of Prince William and Prince Harry. In October 2013 he was named as one of seven godparents of William's first son, Prince George.[15][16] Westminster was one of the peers carrying the Royal Standards at the 2023 Coronation.[17]

On 23 April 2023, the engagement of Westminster and Olivia Henson, who works for an ethical food company, was announced after 2 years of dating. The engagement took place at the Grosvenor family home, Eaton Hall, Cheshire.[18]

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