Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster

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The Duke of Westminster
A photograph of the Duke by Allan Warren, in 1997
Born	22 December 1951 (1951-12-22) (age 60) Omagh, Northern Ireland
Tenure	19 February 1979 - present
Other titles	8th Marquess of Westminster 9th Earl Grosvenor 9th Viscount Belgrave 9th Baron Grosvenor
Known for	Territorial Army officer Property development & land owning Richest Briton
Residence	Eaton Hall, Cheshire
Net worth	£6.7 billion[1]
Offices	Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets), 2004–2007
Predecessor	Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke
Heir apparent	Hugh, Earl Grosvenor
Spouse(s)	Natalia Phillips
Issue	Lady Tamara Grosvenor Lady Edwina Grosvenor Earl Grosvenor Lady Viola Grosvenor
Parents	Robert Grosvenor (deceased) Viola née Lyttelton (deceased)

Major-General Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, KG, CB, OBE, CD, TD, DL, GCLJ (born 22 December 1951), is the son of Robert George Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster, and his wife Hon. Viola Maud Lyttelton. He is the owner of property company Grosvenor Group. According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2011, the Duke of Westminster is worth £6.7 billion placing him fourth in the list behind Lakshmi Mittal, Alisher Usmanov and Roman Abramovich^[1] and making him the richest British person. He was educated at Harrow School and Sandhurst. In 2005, he became Chancellor of the University of Chester.

Via Grosvenor Estates, the Duke is the richest property developer in the United Kingdom and one of the country's largest landowners, with vast estates in Lancashire, Cheshire and Scotland, as well as large areas of Mayfair and Belgravia in central London. The Duke also owns estates in Canada and Spain.

Military career

After leaving Harrow School with a single O-level, the Duke joined the Territorial Army in 1970 as a trooper.

The Duke behind his desk in 1988

In 1973 the Duke entered Sandhurst and subsequently commanded the North Irish Horse, The Cheshire Yeomanry Squadron, founded by his ancestors, and The Queen's Own Yeomanry. He was also appointed the Honorary Colonel of several Regiments, including the 7th Regt. Army Air Corps, the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry, the Queen's Own Yeomanry, Northumbria Universities Officer Training Corps, Colonel in Chief of the Canadian Royal Westminster Regiment, the North Irish Horse and Colonel Commandant Yeomanry.

The Duke was Grand Prior of the Priory of England for the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, 1995-2001.

In 2004 the Duke was appointed to the new post of Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff with responsibility for Reserves and Cadets, with promotion to the rank of Major-General (NATO OF-7), a two-star general officer rank.

In March 2007, having served in the Ministry of Defence as Assistant CDS for four years, he handed over responsibility for 50,000 Reservists and 138,000 Cadets to Major-General Simon Lalor. Lalor subsequently handed over to Major-General Greg Smith, another Territorial Army officer.

The Duke is now indirectly engaged in the Prime Minister's Reserves Review (Future Reserves 2020), led by the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nicholas Houghton. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) for his military service in the 2008 Birthday Honours. He is also an Honorary Vice President of the Royal United Services Institute.

Personal life

As a child the Duke lived on an island in the middle of Lough Erne. His early education was in Northern Ireland before attending Sunningdale School and Harrow School.

The Duke of Westminster married Natalia Ayesha Phillips, the daughter of Lt Col. Harold Pedro Joseph Phillips and his wife Georgina Wernher, in 1978. His wife is a direct descendant of the Russian poet Alexander S. Pushkin and therefore of his African ancestor Ibrahim Hannibal as well as of King George II, making her distantly in line for the British throne. Their children are:

• Lady Tamara Katherine Grosvenor (b. 20 December 1979), married Edward Bernard Charles van Cutsem (6 November 2004). The couple have a son, Jake van Cutsem (b. in 2009).
• Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor (b. 4 November 1981), married Daniel Robert Snow (27 November 2010)
• Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (b. 29 January 1991), the Duke's heir apparent.
• Lady Viola Georgina Grosvenor (b. 12 October 1992)

Titles and styles

• Gerald Grosvenor, Esq (1951–1967)
• Earl Grosvenor (1967–1979)
• His Grace The Duke of Westminster (1979–present)

Honours

The Duke in the robes of a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter

• Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (Military Division) (2008)
• Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (2003)
• Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Military Division) (1995)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Lazarus (1995)
• Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John (1991)
• Territorial Decoration (1994)
• Canadian Forces Decoration (unknown)
• Deputy Lieutenant (Cheshire) (1982)

Honorary military appointments

• Honorary Colonel The Queen's Own Yeomanry
• Honorary Colonel 7th Regt. Army Air Corps
• Honorary Colonel-in-Chief Royal Westminster Regiment, New Westminster, BC, Canada
• Honorary Colonel Yeomanry, Royal Armoured Corps
• Honorary Colonel Northumbria Universities Officer Training Corps

Ancestry

See also

• List of billionaires

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Westminster
• Sunday Times Rich List 2009
• Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People
• Institution of Environmental Sciences
• 6th Duke of Westminster

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