The Duke of Westminster, who married in a huge wedding last year that was attended by Prince William but Prince Harry agreed to stay away, has announced he and his wife are expecting their first child

The billionaire pal of Princes William and Harry has announced he and his wife are expecting their first child.

The Duke of Westminster, also known as Hugh Grosvenor, and his wife Olivia, now the Duchess of Westminster, are preparing to welcome their baby in the summer. The duke, one of the UK’s biggest landowners, is a close friend of both the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex, and godfather to Prince George and also reportedly to Prince Archie.

William acted as an usher at his wedding in Chester Cathedral last year but Harry mutually agreed with the groom he would not attend amid his long-running rift with his brother.

Hugh and Olivia married last year in a huge society wedding
A spokesman for the couple said: “The duchess is expecting a baby in the summer. The couple are delighted with the news and are very much looking forward to starting a family together

Hugh, once considered one of the country’s most eligible bachelors, became an instant billionaire when he inherited his title and control of the historic Grosvenor Estate aged 25, following the death of his father from a heart attack in 2016.

His property company, Grosvenor Group, owns hundreds of acres of land in Mayfair and Belgravia, as well as major city centre developments such as Liverpool’s One shopping centre. In 2020, the duke donated £12.5 million to the UK’s Covid-19 relief effort including funds for NHS Charities Together and for medical research and development.

Prince William is a close pal of Hugh’s ( 
Image:
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As it stands, the new baby will be affected by a centuries-old rule that also led to Hugh inheriting the immense Grosvenor fortune, estimated at £10bn. Peerages only pass down the male line (known as male primogeniture), which means that the peerage can only be inherited by a male relative.

Therefore, if the Duke and Duchess’s child is a girl, under the current laws, she will not be entitled to inherit the Westminster title, nor the family fortune and estate that goes with it. Instead, she would be styled as Lady, while an eldest son would be known as Earl Grosvenor until he inherits the dukedom.

The same rule also directly impacted Hugh, who has two older sisters, Lady Tamara and Lady Edwina Grosvenor. When their father, Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, died in 2016, the family title went to Hugh, his third child and only son.

His marriage has reignited the debate over the archaic rule, with campaigners calling for a law change preventing younger sons inheriting over firstborn daughters.

The family has several enormous estates that include Eaton Hall in Cheshire and the Abbeystead Estate in Lancashire, as well as homes in Scotland and Spain. Hugh is Britain’s richest person aged under 40, according to The Sunday Times 2024 Rich List, with an estimated wealth of £10.127 billion, rising from £9.878 billion in 2023