The sixth duke died at the age of 64 after becoming ill at his Abbeystead Estate in Lancashire, northwest of Manchester.
Advertisement
The 25 year old son of Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, has inherited his entire £9bn portfolio, including Abbeystead estate.
“His family are all aware and ask for privacy and understanding at this very hard time”.
The landowner was said to be worth around $10.8 billion (£8.3bn), according to Forbes, making him the 68th richest billionaire in the world, and third in the UK.
Among properties across the United Kingdom he owned 190 acres in Belgravia, an area near to Buckingham Palace, and one of London’s most expensive districts.
Up until this week, Hugh Grosvenor was just your average 25-year-old living his best life in blissful semi-obscurity, writing blogs titled: “How to produce an espresso from your rucksack” and (probably) exchanging frequent Snapchats with his family friend Prince William and godson, Prince George.
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, have sent a message of condolence to the Grosvenor family, said a spokesman for the Buckingham Palace.
As well as gaining considerable media attention when he accepted the role of Prince George’s godfather in 2013, Hugh made headlines with a 21 birthday party that was rumoured to have cost £5million at Eaton Hall.
Please note that Hugh here is not in fact the eldest child of his father but the eldest son, because aristocratic inheritance still works according to primogeniture, meaning the parts of the sixth duke’s estate tied up with the title can’t go to women.
While the new duke takes responsibility for the fortune through the inherited title, his wider family, including his mother and three sisters, still stand to benefit.
“Given the choice, I would rather not have been born wealthy, but I never think of giving it up”, the 6th duke told The Independent in 1992.
Invites included family and friends, as well and long-serving members of the Grosvenor Estate staff, with guests who wanted to give a present asked to add to Hugh’s large wine collection.
While most of us made do with a case of Passion Pop and a few fire buckets in the backyard, Hugh, Earl Grosvenor hosted 800 of his nearest and dearest to a party on his 11,000 acre ancestral estate, Eaton Hall.
After Sandhurst the Duke aspired to embark on a career in the British military but that ambition was cut short when he found himself inheriting at the age of 27 the vast Grosvenor Estate comprising 300 acres in Belgravia and Mayfair, two of London’s most exclusive and expensive districts.
The duke attended a state primary before going to a private day school close to home in Cheshire.
The Westminster Foundation, the charitable body which manages the philanthropic activities of his family, was set up in the 1970s and since then has awarded over £40 million in 1,500 grants.
Advertisement
He is survived by his wife of 38 years Natalia Phillips and their daughters, Lady Tamara (37), Lady Edwina (35) and Lady Viola (24).
