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The Duke of Westminster, a close pal of warring brothers Prince William and Prince Harry married his bride Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral today – but only William was there after Harry bowed out of the nuptials
There was no question that Prince William would take “centre stage” at the Duke of Westminster’s wedding over his estranged brother Prince Harry, a royal expert has claimed.
The Duke, whose real name is Hugh Grosvenor, tied the knot with his fiancee Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral in front of 400 guests, including the Prince of Wales, who was given the role of usher. However, despite the groom being close to Harry too, he did not attend and instead stayed thousands of miles away in California. Hugh and Harry came to the “civilised understanding” for him to skip the wedding, seemingly paving the way for William’s attendance – and for him to take up his role as an usher at the ceremony.
And according to royal biographer Ingrid Seward, it was always going to be Harry who would have to concede his invitation. She told the Mirror: “The Dukes of Westminster have always been close to the royal family. William and Harry’s mum Princess Diana was close friends with Hugh Grosvenor’s mum, Natalia. Tally as she is known, is Prince William’s godmother and in turn, Diana was godmother to her daughter, Edwina.
“In yet another family tie, Hugh is one of King Charles’ many godsons and will certainly receive a wedding gift from his godfather even though he will not be attending the nuptials.
“Young Hugh who is also a godfather to Prince George. There was never any question as to which of the brothers would take centre stage at the wedding. It had to be William. Harry made it clear he wouldn’t be attending having had a chat with Hugh about the awkward situation and agreeing he should be the one to step down.
“There was also the question of Meghan being unwilling to attend such a high-profile society wedding knowing that most of that very society disliked her. Why would she want to come to a country where she could be pilloried, snubbed and embarrassed?
“Hers and Harry’s presence would certainly have distracted from the bride and groom and even Meghan would know that would be the height of bad manners.”
Meanwhile, Ingrid, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, added that the wedding has now shown how deep the rift really runs between William and Harry – and how it shows no sign of abating. She added: “Harry issued an unofficial memo saying, ‘The Duke of Sussex sends his love and support and admiration for the couple for their wedding day.’ It is a sad reflection of William and Harry’s troubled relationship that the brothers cannot even be in the same place at the same time.
“As an usher William would have had to guide Harry as a member of the Royal Family to a designated seat in the church. In the old days that would have provided the brothers with a lot of teasing and laughter with each other.
“Today it would make headlines of the wrong sort. It is a great sadness it has come to this. They will certainly not be reunited in the immediate future.”
Ingrid Seward is editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of My Mother & I published by Simon & Schuster.
