Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster

Major-General His Grace The Duke of Westminster KG CB CVO OBE TD CD DL
Photographed by Allan Warren in 1997
Personal details
Born	Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor 22 December 1951 Omagh, Northern Ireland, UK
Spouse(s)	Natalia Phillips
Children	Lady Tamara Grosvenor Lady Edwina Grosvenor Hugh Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor Lady Viola Grosvenor
Parents	Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster Viola Lyttelton
Residence	Eaton Hall, Cheshire
Known for	Landowning Property development
Religion	Anglican
Civilian awards	Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Other titles	Earl Grosvenor (1967-1979)
Website	www.grosvenorestate.com
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1973-2012
Rank	Major General
Unit	North Irish Horse
Commands	Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets) (2004-07) Deputy Commander Land Forces (Reserves) (2011-12)
Military awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Efficiency Decoration Volunteer Reserves Service Medal Canadian Forces Decoration

Major-General Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, KG, CB, CVO, OBE, TD, CD, DL (born 22 December 1951) is a British billionaire landowner, businessman and Territorial Army officer. He is the son of Robert George Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster, and The Hon. Viola Maud Lyttelton. He is Chairman of the property company Grosvenor Group.^[1]

He was educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy 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 Oxford, Cheshire and Scotland, as well as large areas of Mayfair and Belgravia in Central London, Liverpool City Centre, and elsewhere in Europe. According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2015, the Duke is worth £8.56 billion (about $13 billion), placing him ninth in the list and making him the third richest British national.

Military career

After leaving Harrow with two O-levels,^[2] then Earl Grosvenor, he joined the Territorial Army in 1970 as a trooper.

After entering RMA Sandhurst in 1973, he passed out as an Officer Cadet and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve of the Royal Armoured Corps (Queen's Own Yeomanry) on 13 May 1973.^[3][4] He was promoted to Lieutenant on 13 May 1975 and to Captain on 1 July 1980.^[5][6] He was subsequently promoted to the acting rank of Major on 1 January 1985 and to the substantive rank on 22 December.^[7]

Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 1 April 1992, he subsequently commanded the North Irish Horse, the Cheshire Yeomanry Squadron, founded by his ancestors, and the Queen's Own Yeomanry.^[8] He was promoted to colonel on 31 December 1994 and was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 7th Regt. Army Air Corps (1 January 1996) and the Northumbrian Universities Officer Training Corps (30 November 1995).^[9][10][11] Promoted to Brigadier on 17 January 2000, he was also appointed Honorary Colonel of the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry on 14 May 2001.^[12][13] He was also appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Canadian Royal Westminster Regiment, the North Irish Horse and as Colonel Commandant Yeomanry.

The Duke was Grand Prior of the Priory of England of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, 1995–2001.^[14]

In 2004 the Duke was appointed to the new post of Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets), with promotion in the rank of Major-General.

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, in the wake of the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal in which he was implicated.^[15] The Duke became Deputy Commander Land Forces (Reserves) in May 2011.^[16] He retired in 2012.

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 (RUSI), and a member of the International Advisory Board of the RUSI.

He was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for "service as a member of the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall".^[17]

Personal life

The Duke behind his desk in 1988

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 Abram Gannibal as well as of King George II, making her distantly in line to the British throne. Their children are:

• Lady Tamara Katherine Grosvenor (b. 20 December 1979), married Edward Bernard Charles van Cutsem (6 November 2004), with two sons, Jake Louis Hannibal van Cutsem (b. 2009) and Louis Hugh Lupus van Cutsem (b. 17 April 2012);^[18]
• Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor (b. 4 November 1981), a goddaughter of Princess Diana,^[19] married Daniel Robert Snow (27 November 2010). The couple have a daughter, Zia (born 2011) and a son, Wolf Robert (born 2014).
• Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (b. 29 January 1991), heir apparent to his father's titles. Earl Grosvenor is one of Prince George of Cambridge's seven godparents;^[20]
• Lady Viola Georgina Grosvenor (b. 12 October 1992).

Titles, styles, honours and Arms

Titles and styles

• 22 December 1951 – 25 February 1967: Gerald Grosvenor, Esq.
• 25 February 1967 – 19 February 1979: Earl Grosvenor
• 19 February 1979 – present: His Grace The Duke of Westminster

Honours

Orders

• 20 February 1979 Baronet, 15th baronet, of Eaton (cr. 1621)
•  1987 Commander of the Order of St John (CStJ) ^[21]
  •  1991 Knight of the Order of St John (KStJ)
• 1995 Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
• 2003 Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG)
• 2008 Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)
•  2012 Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO)

Decorations

• 1994 Territorial Decoration (TD)
• 2004 Canadian Forces Decoration (CD)

Medals

•  6 February 1977 Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
•  6 February 2002 Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
•  6 February 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
• 29 May 2012 Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VR)

Foreign dynastic orders

• 1995 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Lazarus, (House of Orléans)
• 2006 Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I, (House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies)

Appointments

• 20 July 1981 He Received the Freedom of the City of London ^[22]
• 1982 He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Cheshire (DL)
• 27 September 2013 He was awarded an Honorary Degree from Harper Adams University.^[23]
• 1990 He received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from Keele University ^[24]

Honorary military appointments

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

Arms

Arms of Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster

Notes The dukedom of Westminster was created by Queen Victoria in 1874. Coronet A Coronet of a Duke Crest A Talbot statant Or Escutcheon Quarterly: 1st and 4th, Azure a Portcullis with chains pendant Or on a Chief of the last between two united Roses of York and Lancaster a Pale charged with the Arms of King Edward the Confessor (City of Westminster); 2nd and 3rd, Azure a Garb Or (Grosvenor) Supporters On either side a Talbot reguardant Or collared Azure Motto Virtus Non Stemma (Virtue not ancestry)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster

16. Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster               8. Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster                       17. Lady Elizabeth Leveson-Gower               4. Lord Hugh Grosvenor                             18. William Cavendish, 2nd Baron Chesham               9. Hon. Katherine Cavendish (1857–1941)                       19. Henrietta Lascelles               2. Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster                                   20. John Crichton, 3rd Earl Erne               10. John Henry Crichton, 4th Earl Erne                       21. Selina Beresford               5. Lady Mabel Crichton (1882–1944)                             22. William Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen               11. Lady Florence Cole (1849–1924)                       23. Lady Charlotte Paget               1. Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster                                         24. George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton               12. Charles Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham                       25. Mary Glynne               6. John Cavendish Lyttelton, 9th Viscount Cobham                             26. William Cavendish, 2nd Baron Chesham (=18.)               13. Hon. Mary Cavendish (1853–1937)                       27. Henrietta Lascelles (=19)               3. Hon. Viola Lyttelton                                   ?               14. Charles Leonard                       ?               7. Violet Leonard                             ?               15. Catherine Le Sueur                       ?

See also

• List of billionaires
• List of dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
• Westminster City Council v Duke of Westminster

References

1. www.grosvenor.com
2. "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Duke Of Westminster". BBC. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
3. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46013. p. 7556. 25 June 1973.
4. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46419. p. 12151. 2 December 1974.
5. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46621. p. 8373. 30 June 1975.
6. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48337. p. 14267. 13 October 1980.
7. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50485. p. 5171. 14 April 1986.
8. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 52885. p. 6174. 1 April 1992.
9. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 54027. p. 6604. 5 May 1995.
10. The London Gazette: no. 54320. p. 2559. 19 February 1996.
11. The London Gazette: no. 54289. p. 690. 15 January 1996.
12. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 55935. p. 8748. 8 August 2000.
13. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 56249. p. 7221. 19 June 2001.
14. "History". Retrieved 4 December 2015.
15. Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff steps down, Daily Mail, Retrieved 2012-03-31.
16. "Defence Viewpoints". Retrieved 16 April 2012.
17. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60173. p. 3. 16 June 2012.
18. Louis Hugh Lupus van Cutsem, Peerage News, Retrieved 2012-06-14.
19. Levy, Geoffrey (15 February 2003). "Diana's godchildren". London: Daily Mail.
20. Saad, Nardine (23 October 2013). "Prince George christened; William and Kate name seven godparents". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
21. The London Gazette: no. 50800. p. 461. 13 January 1987.
22. "Simon Dack Pictures". Getty Images. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
23. "Key figures awarded Honorary Degrees and Fellowship". Harper Adams University. 27 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
24. "Honorary Degrees Awarded" (PDF). Keele University. July 2015.

External links

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