A man who has been named the richest Brit aged under 40 has a wealth greater than £10 billion – and also has close ties to the Royal Family and is friends to both both William and Harry
A man who has been crowned the richest Brit under 40 and worth more than £10 billion has found himself at the centre of a royal battle between Princes William and Harry.
The 33-year-old Hugh Grosvenor is the seventh Duke of Westminster and became an instant billionaire when he inherited his title and control of the historic Grosvenor Estate from his father in 2016. He was crowned the richest person under 40 in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List with his estate worth £10.13 billion. And Hugh has close ties to William and Harry having been chosen to be the godfather of the Waleses’ son George.
When the time arrived for William and Kate to choose George’s godparents, they bucked tradition by plumping for close friends and family members, rather than other royals or high-ranking members of the aristocracy. Those selected to take on the prestigious job were Oliver Baker, Emilia Jardine-Paterson, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, Julia Samuel, William Van-Cutsem, Zara Tindall, and The Duke of Westminster.
Hugh Grosvenor’s family ties to the royals stretch back decades. He is set to marry his fiancée Olivia Henson on 7 June and he inherited his title and control of the Grosvenor Estate, then worth an estimated £9 billion, back 2016. He is now ranked as one of the richest billionaires in the world.
Hugh’s late father, Gerald Grosvenor, was a confidante of King Charles – who was asked to be one of Hugh’s godparents following his birth in 1990. Gerald’s widow, Natalia, meanwhile, is a godmother to Prince William and in turn, the late Princess Diana was chosen to be a godmother to Gerald’s second daughter, Lady Edwina Grosvenor. The two families’ connections have remained strong. Not only did William and Kate ask him to be godfather to future King George, it’s thought he is also one of Prince Archie’s godparents due to a friendship with Harry.
The source of Hugh’s wealth comes from The Grosvenor Group, which he inherited following his father’s death as his only son. It means Hugh owns several huge areas of London, other sites in the UK, over 40 residential buildings, offices and shops in the US and Canada, as well as other projects in Asia and mainland Europe.
Over in the US, the Grosvenor Group has residential and retail developments in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Washington, Los Angeles, Maryland, Chicago and Washington D.C. There are also considerable projects in Vancouver, Victoria and Calgary. As for London, the group owns Park Lane, half of Mayfair and 300 acres of Belgravia.
The family also has several enormous estates that include Eaton Hall in Cheshire and the Abbeystead Estate in Lancashire, as well as homes in Scotland and Spain. He has two elder sisters, Lady Tamara Katherine Grosvenor and Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor, and a younger sister, Lady Viola Georgina Grosvenor.
The former married Prince William’s close friend Edward van Cutsem in 2004 and has three children, Jake, Louis and Isla van Cutsem. Lady Edwina married TV presenter and historian Dan Snow in 2010 and also has three children, Zia, Wolf and Orla. Youngest daughter Lady Viola married Dragoon Guards officer Angus Roberts in a secret family wedding and celebrated with a party in Kenya.
