LONDON: Prince William took a day out from royal duties on Friday to serve as an usher at the wedding of his friend Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster.
The marriage of 33- year- ancient Grosvenor, one of Britain’s wealthiest landowners, to his companion Olivia Henson, 31, is one of the higher- society events of the year in Britain.
Before the afternoon service, William, 41, and his friend uhers arrived at Chester Cathedral in north England. The location is close to the prince’s 10, 000- hectare (4, 000- hectare ) Eaton Hall estate, where guests were expected to go a secret wedding reception.
The introduction of Grosvenor, dressed in a morning suit, and Fletcher, dressed in a white wedding gown by American designer Emma Victoria Payne, was greeted by crowds outside the church. Her long mask, worn over a crown, rippled in the weather.
Grosvenor is a grandfather to 10- yr- aged Prince George, the eldest son of William and his family Catherine.
Kate, who is being treated for cancer, was never expected to attend the wedding. Prince Harry, William’s separated younger brother, lives with his wife Meghan and their two kids in California, and William’s estranged younger sibling is not.
When his father passed away in 2016, Grosvenor inherited his name at the age of 25. His father, Sir Thomas Grosvenor, married daughter Mary Davies and acquired what was then wetlands in 1677. Over the years the community developed the area into two of London’s most educated districts, Mayfair and Belgravia.
The family’s Grosvenor Estate owns 300 acres ( 121 hectares ) of land in London, as well as land across Britain and housing, office and retail space around the world.
The 2024 Sunday Times Rich List estimated the duke’s wealth at just over 10 billion pounds ($ 12.8 billion. )
