Bride-to-be, Olivia Henson, 31, is set to marry the Duke of Westminster at Chester Cathedral in just a few days time, but their romance has been a relatively private affair until their engagement was announced.
Olivia Henson studied at Marlborough College, just like the Princess of Wales, and is of aristocracy having descended from the Hoare banking family, the Marquesses of Bristol and the Dukes of Rutland.
She completed her higher studies in Ireland, at Trinity College, Dublin where she got a 2:1 in Hispanic Studies and Italian.
Ms Henson met Hugh Grosvenor, who is also known as “Hughie”, in October 2021 through mutual friends. After dating for two years, the Duke proposed to her at Eaton Hall in Cheshire and the pair later shared the news with a casual photograph.
Olivia’s online footprint is minimal, but she is a senior account manager at Belazu, an environmentally friendly B-corp which imports high-quality ingredients from across Europe.
When the couple jointly released their official engagement photo in April last year – which was taken in the grounds of his family home of Eaton Hall in Cheshire – eyebrows were raised at how casual the couple appeared.
According to the Telegraph, one critic said that Henson hadn’t brushed her hair and appeared to be wearing pyjamas. However, a royal expert, Victoria Murphy, stated it showed the couple’s low-maintenance, relaxed approach, instead.
The future Duchess of Westminster, Olivia has drawn comparisons with a young Kate, Princess of Wales for her long brown hair, slim frame, and stylish attire.
Speaking of the decision to move to Chester and out of London after marriage, Olivia told Town and Country: “It’s obviously a place where we will live, where we’ll be building our lives together. And we’re slowly transitioning to move up from London and be much more permanent here and really putting roots down. So actually, yes it was a really easy decision in the end.”
Hugh was long considered to be Britain’s most eligible bachelor and inherited his title and the Grosvenor Estate in 2016 after his father died after suffering a heart attack. His estates are in the wealthy London neighbourhoods of Belgravia and Mayfair, and the ancestral home in Cheshire, Eaton Hall.
At just 33 years old, he is the richest person under 35 in the UK, worth £9.878billion, according to The Times. Hugh is now chair of the Grosvenor Group as well as chair of the Westminster Foundation, which the family use to disburse their charitable donations.
Grosvenor’s status as King Charles’ godson and godfather to a young Prince George means that it’ll be a royal affair, with multiple senior members of the family expected to attend the “wedding of the year”.
Despite being friends with the groom for many years, Prince Harry has chosen to step back and not attend the Duke of Westminster’s wedding on June 7. Prince William is said to be an usher at the couple’s wedding, but to avoid tensions, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not be attending.
Neither Princess Kate nor King Charles, who are both being treated for cancer, are expected to attend, according to The Times.
