The Duke of Westminster has lost his unofficial title, “Britain’s most eligible bachelor”, after marrying Olivia Henson.
Hugh Grosvenor, 33, who ranked 14th on the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £10.1bn, has made his bride a duchess after marrying her at Chester Cathedral today.
The largely private couple only made their first public appearance together last month, but their wedding has been one of the most prestigious social events of the year, with esteemed guests such as Prince William attending.
Image: The scenes outside the cathedral ahead of the ceremony. Pic: PA
The duke arrived at the ceremony in a green Land Rover and waved to crowds who were waiting in the streets outside the cathedral.
Miss Henson travelled to her wedding with her father Rupert Henson in a vintage Bentley that was originally made for W.O. Bentley, the founder of Bentley Motors, in 1930.
Image: The Duke of Westminster waves to crowd as he arrives at Chester Cathedral. Pic: PA
Image: Olivia Henson arrived with her father
Thousands lined the streets of Chester to catch a glimpse of the event from early in the morning, with many bringing camping chairs and picnics.
It was already packed when the Prince of Wales, an usher at the wedding, arrived at the cathedral at about 10.30am – so much so that he entered the cathedral through a side entrance to avoid being seen.
Later on around 400 guests, including Princess Eugenie, were brought to the venue in coaches.
Image: Prince William, an usher, seen after the ceremony. Pic: PA
Image: Princess Eugenie leaves Chester Cathedral after the wedding. Pic: PA
King Charles, who is the duke’s godfather, wasn’t one of them, nor was the Queen.
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The King has scaled back his public appearances since he started being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer, though he and the Queen were in France for the D-Day commemorations yesterday.
The Princess of Wales didn’t attend either as she continues to undergo her cancer treatment.
The Duke of Sussex was not there despite reportedly being being a close friend of Hugh Grosvenor’s, who is a godfather to Prince Harry’s son Archie.
Image: The Duke of Westminster’s links to the Royal Family
Protesters target event
A fire extinguisher was set off outside the cathedral as the bride and groom made their way to a Bentley car.
Two women sprayed orange powder paint in the air from the extinguisher while standing among a crowd of spectators, with police officers wrestling it from them and escorting them away seconds later.
The environmental protest group Just Stop Oil has claimed responsibility for the incident.
Image: Orange smoke sprayed above the crowd. Pic: Just Stop Oil
The wedding arrangements
The ceremony at Chester Cathedral began at midday, with the Dean of Chester, the Very Reverand Dr Tim Stratford, leading the service.
It featured the Chester Cathedral choir, conducted by Philip Rushforth, organist and master of the choristers at the church. They were accompanied by a group of musicians from across North West England.
Image: The car the bride arrived in. Pic: PA
A spokesperson for the Duke and Miss Henson said the couple chose seasonal flowers sourced from local growers, with much of the foliage coming from the grounds of the Duke’s Eaton Estate.
They included rambling roses, philadelphus, campanula and orlaya grandiflora, while birch trees lined the inside of the church, the spokesperson added.
After the ceremony, the Duke and Duchess of Westminster travelled back to Eaton Estate, which has been home to the Grosvenor family since the 1400s, where they are hosting a private wedding reception for guests.
Their spokesperson said the couple had taken “a great deal of care in planning the wedding, putting their own personal stamp on all the arrangements and have made a conscious effort to involve local and regional suppliers in several aspects of the day”.
Who is the new Duchess of Westminster?
The 31-year-old had been with the duke for two years when the pair announced their engagement in April 2023.
Image: The Duke of Westminster and Olivia Henson shared this image as part of their engagement announcement. Pic: PA
Much like her husband, the duchess largely stays out of the public eye. What we do know is she’s a senior accounts manager at Belazu, an ethical food company based in London, and she was introduced to the duke through mutual friends.
She is widely reported to have studied at Marlborough College – the same as the Princess of Wales and Pippa Middleton.
As part of the estimated £10bn estate, the duke, previously known by his honorary title Earl Grosvenor, also inherited Eaton Hall in Cheshire – home to the Grosvenor family since the 15th century.
It’s where his notably casual engagement photo with his then fiancé was taken last year.
The duke, a former student of countryside management at Newcastle University, is one of four children: He has two older sisters, Lady Tamara and Lady Edwina, and one younger sister Lady Viola.
He inherited his father’s fortune despite not being the eldest of them as legitimate male heirs take precedence over their older sisters when it comes to inheriting an estate.
Image: Hugh Grosvenor’s sister Lady Tamara married her husband Edward van Cutsem at Chester Cathedral in 2004. Pic: AP
The property company he inherited, the Grosvenor Group, owns about 300 acres of land in Mayfair and Belgravia in central London, as well as major city centre developments such as Liverpool’s ONE shopping centre and properties in the US and Canada.
The billionaire, who was widely dubbed Britain’s most eligible bachelor after inheriting the fortune, is chair of both the Grosvenor Trustees and the Westminster Foundation, which represents his and the Grosvenor Group’s charitable interests.
Image: Grosvenor Square in Mayfair is the second largest square in London. Pic: Wolfram Kastl/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
Image: Grosvenor Group owns Liverpool ONE, a shopping centre with more than 170 stores. Pic: PA
‘You can feel the positive energy coming from them’
It can be difficult for the public to get to know a couple like the duke and duchess, who like to stay out of the limelight.
They made a rare public outing last month when they attended a parent-toddler music programme at Chester Cathedral.
It was a chance for them to see one of the many charitable programmes for young people they support through the duke’s Westminster Foundation.
Emma Thomas, a development artist at Cheshire Dance, which runs the programme, not only met the couple on their visit, but also went to primary school with Hugh Grosvenor.
Ms Thomas said they had a very “relaxed” and “approachable” quality to them on their visit, adding: “They seem very comfortable together and you could feel the really positive energy coming from them.”
Image: Hugh Grosvenor. Pic: PA
She said the duke was “so enthusiastic about bringing opportunities for young people” and that it’s “wonderful to hear him talk so genuinely and passionately about that work”.
“The duke was absolutely wonderful” with the children there, she added. “So approachable, so engaging. I think it could be very easy to not be like that.
“But he was wonderful and he gave the kids a really great experience. I think they were very nervous to meet him, and he made it feel very relaxed.”
She added the duchess was “asking lots of questions” and “really valuing the voices of the children”.
A good end to a good day
Ms Thomas also reminisced with the duke about their time attending Eccleston C of E Primary School together.
She was a few year groups older but saw a fair amount of the duke because he and her younger brother were friends.
She recalls a birthday party they both went to when they were about six or seven – where they had a tour of Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.
“He was quite a calm kid, but he loved Liverpool so much. The enthusiasm!”
She said she fondly recalls going to McDonald’s with the duke after visiting the stadium.
Wedding of the year?
Despite keeping a low profile, the wedding wasn’t the first lavish event the duke has thrown.
His 21st birthday party for 800 guests at Eaton Hall in 2012 was reported to have cost £5m.
Comedian Michael McIntyre and hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks provided the entertainment, and Prince Harry was among the guests for the “black tie and neon” event.
On his wedding plans, the duke told Town & Country Magazine during the Chester Cathedral visit: “I think next time we’re in here will be slightly more nerve-wracking.”
He added he was “unbelievably excited”.
“I also just wanted to make it very clear how unbelievably helpful people have been, how supportive they’ve been so far which I’m unbelievably grateful for,” he told the publication.
“Because I do realise that it’s going to be a big thing for the city. It’s going to be certainly a huge thing for us, so we’re just really grateful for all the help.”
On holding the wedding in Chester, the bride added: “It’s obviously a place where we will live, where we’ll be building our lives together.”
The pair currently live in London and are “slowly transitioning” to Chester where they plan to put “roots down”, she added, saying it was a “really easy decision” to have the wedding there.
Shortly after their engagement announcement last year, a spokesperson for the couple said: “The couple have chosen the cathedral for both its beauty and long association with the Grosvenor family, including to the duke personally.
“Cheshire is the Grosvenor family’s ancestral home and as Miss Henson’s connection to the region continues to grow, they are keen to plan their wedding there.”
Royal relationships
The Grosvenors have been aristocrats for centuries, as they began building their property empire in London back in the 1600s.
To cut a several hundred-year story short, Hugh Grosvenor’s ancestor Hugh Lupus Grosvenor was made the first Duke of Westminster by Queen Victoria in 1874. The current holder of the title is the seventh Duke of Westminster.
However, the Grosvenor family’s modern relationship with the royals goes beyond peerage.
Image: The sixth Duke of Westminster – the current duke’s father – with Queen Elizabeth II in 2004. Pic: PA
The duke’s late father Gerald Grosvenor was a close friend of King Charles before his death in 2016.
They were so close that Gerald Grosvenor made the King a godfather of his son Hugh when he was born in 1991.
Now the duke is a godfather himself to Prince William’s eldest child, Prince George, and Prince Harry’s son Prince Archie.
He is said to have maintained relationships with both brothers over the years, but Prince Harry did not attend the duke’s wedding.
Some reports have suggested he and his wife Meghan were not on the guest list, adding the duke was concerned their presence would take away from the wedding itself due to their ongoing rift with the rest of the Royal Family.
Other reports suggested Harry and Meghan were sent a ‘save the date’ but decided to decline in order to prevent any awkwardness.
Motorists warned – and ice-creams on the happy couple
Chester’s council warned the city will be busier than usual on Friday due to the wedding, and urged people to “rethink journeys into the city centre” today.
In an update on X, the council added it would be best to avoid travelling to the centre by car.
The couple are also supporting local businesses by subsidising free ice-cream, gelato and sorbet on their wedding day from three local dessert parlours.
Duke of Westminster’s fortune explained
The duke has been featuring on rich lists since he inherited his father’s billion-pound fortune.
As Sky News’ business presenter Ian King explains: “While the Grosvenor family is automatically linked in many people’s eyes to properties in west London’s upmarket Mayfair and Belgravia districts, such assets are only part of the wider Grosvenor Group, the company that manages the Duke of Westminster’s wealth.
“The business now encompasses a range of assets and activities, including property in the UK and overseas, investments in food producers and agricultural technology companies and three large rural estates in northern England and the Scottish Highlands.”
Image: Grosvenor Group owns buildings, squares and public spaces in Belgravia and Mayfair. Pic: iStock
King adds: “The business is owned by a series of UK resident (in other words, onshore) trusts set up by the family in the 1950s to shield itself from the risk of expensive divorces or reckless spending by wayward members of the family.
The arrangement means that, although the duke and his family are the ultimate owners of Grosvenor, he is not able, for example, to sell assets if he felt the need to raise cash. Major transactions such as asset disposals have to be agreed by the trustees.
“Contrary to what is often suggested, the family are all UK-registered for tax and pay UK taxes, while the trusts are liable for income tax and capital gains tax.
“They are also liable for inheritance tax levied by the UK government, although, as is common with UK trusts of this type, the majority of the trusts pay a recurring payment to HM Revenue & Customs of 6% of the value of their assets every 10 years, rather than a payment of 40% inheritance tax upon death of beneficiaries.
“For a private company, Grosvenor is unusually open about its activities, publishing annual reports and financial statements in the way a listed company would.
“Its latest results, for 2023, revealed a £400m drop in the value of the group’s portfolio to £8.6bn. That portfolio is split roughly 50/50 between UK and international assets. A pre-tax loss of £28.6m for the year compared with a profit of £110.4m in 2022.”
All 14 children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a boy died in a fire have been released on police bail, officers said.
Layton Carr, 14, was found dead near the site of a fire at Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area of Gateshead on Friday.
Northumbria Police said on Saturday that they had arrested 11 boys and three girls in connection with the incident.
In an update on Sunday, a Northumbria Police spokesman said: “All those arrested have since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.”
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Teenager dies in industrial estate fire
Firefighters raced to the industrial site shortly after 8pm on Friday, putting out the blaze a short time later.
Police then issued an appeal for Carr, who was believed to be in the area at that time.
In a statement on Saturday, the force said that “sadly, following searches, a body believed to be that of 14-year-old Layton Carr was located deceased inside the building”.
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David Thompson, headteacher of Hebburn Comprehensive School, where Layton was a pupil, said the school community was “heartbroken”.
Mr Thompson described him as a “valued and much-loved member of Year 9” and said he would be “greatly missed by everyone”.
He added that the school’s “sincere condolences” were with Layton’s family and that the community would “rally together to support one another through this tragedy”.
A fundraising page on GoFundMe has been set up to help Layton’s mother pay for funeral costs.
Image: Pic: Gofundme
Organiser Stephanie Simpson said: “The last thing Georgia needs to stress trying to pay for a funeral for her Boy Any donations will help thank you.”
One tribute in a Facebook post read: “Can’t believe I’m writing this my nephew RIP Layton 💔 forever 14 you’ll be a massive miss, thinking of my sister and 2 beautiful nieces right now.”
Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins, of Northumbria Police, also said: “This is an extremely tragic incident where a boy has sadly lost his life.”
She added that the force’s “thoughts are with Layton’s family as they begin to attempt to process the loss of their loved one”.
They are working to establish “the full circumstances surrounding the incident” and officers will be in the area to “offer reassurance to the public”, she added.
A cordon remains in place at the site while police carry out enquiries.
Football bodies could be forced to pay towards the care costs of ex-players who have been diagnosed with brain conditions, under proposals set to be considered by MPs.
Campaigners are drafting amendments to the Football Governance Bill, which would treat conditions caused by heading balls as an “industrial injuries issue”.
The proposals seek to require the football industry to provide the necessary financial support.
Campaigners say existing support is not fit for purpose, including the Brain Health Fund which was set up with an initial £1m by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), supported by the Premier League.
But the Premier League said the fund has supported 121 families with at-home adaptations and care home fees.
From England‘s 1966 World Cup-winning team, both Jack and Bobby Charlton died with dementia, as did Martin Peters, Ray Wilson and Nobby Stiles.
Image: Neil Ruddock speaks to Sky’s Rob Harris outside parliament
Ex-players, including former Liverpool defender Neil Ruddock, went to parliament last week to lobby MPs.
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Ruddock told Sky News he had joined campaigners “for the families who’ve gone through hell”.
“A professional footballer, greatest job in the world, but no one knew the dangers, and that’s scary,” he said.
“Every time someone heads a ball it’s got to be dangerous to you. You know, I used to head 100 balls a day in training. I didn’t realise that might affect my future.”
A study co-funded by the PFA and the Football Association (FA) in 2019 found footballers were three and a half times more likely to die of a neurodegenerative disease than members of the public of the same age.
‘In denial’
Among those calling on football authorities to contribute towards the care costs of ex-players who have gone on to develop conditions such as Alzheimer’s and dementia is Labour MP Chris Evans.
Mr Evans, who represents Caerphilly in South Wales, hopes to amend the Bill to establish a care and financial support scheme for ex-footballers and told a recent event in parliament that affected ex-players “deserve to be compensated”.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who helped to draft the amendment, said the game was “in denial about the whole thing”.
Mr Burnham called for it to be seen as “an industrial injuries issue in the same way with mining”.
A spokesperson for the FA said it was taking a “leading role in reviewing and improving the safety of our game” and that it had “already taken many proactive steps to review and address potential risk factors”.
An English Football League spokesperson said it was “working closely with other football bodies” to ensure both professional and grassroots football are “as safe as it can be”.
And that comes in the context of increased warnings from government and the security services about Iranian activity on British soil.
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Counter terror officers raid property
Last year, the director general of MI5, Ken McCallum, said his organisation and police had responded to 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents since January 2022.
He linked that increase to the ongoing situation in Iran’s own backyard.
“As events unfold in the Middle East, we will give our fullest attention to the risk of an increase in – or a broadening of – Iranian state aggression in the UK,” he said.
The implication is that even as Iran grapples with a rapidly changing situation in its own region, having seen its proxies, Hezbollahin Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, decimated and itself coming under Israeli attack, it may seek avenues further abroad.
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The government reiterated this warning only a few weeks ago, with security minister Dan Jarvis addressing parliament.
“The threat from Iran sits in a wider context of the growing, diversifying and evolving threat that the UK faces from malign activity by a number of states,” Jarvis said.
“The threat from states has become increasingly interconnected in nature, blurring the lines between: domestic and international; online and offline; and states and their proxies.
“Turning specifically to Iran, the regime has become increasingly emboldened, asserting itself more aggressively to advance their objectives and undermine ours.”
As part of that address, Jarvis highlighted the National Security Act 2023, which “criminalises assisting a foreign intelligence service”, among other things.
So it was notable that this was the act used in one of this weekend’s investigations.
The suspects were detained under section 27 of the same act, which allows police to arrest those suspected of being “involved in foreign power threat activity”.