Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster
Encyclopedia : G : GE : GER : Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster
Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, KG, OBE, TD, DL (born 22 December 1951) is the most wealthy aristocrat in the United Kingdom (possibly the world) and is Major General and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Reserves) in the armed forces of the United Kingdom.
The Duke topped the Sunday Times Rich List as Britain's wealthiest individual for many years and was only eclipsed in 2004 by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. The Duke was 3rd in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006, behind Roman Abramovich and the Indian Industrialist, Lakshmi Mittal, who currently holds first place. An estimated fortune of £6.6 billion ($12.23 billion) is derived largely from property in central London, where he owns approximately 300 acres (1.2 km²) of the most exclusive commercial and residential property in Mayfair and Belgravia (including the land on which the US Embassy stands, in Grosvenor Square), as well as estates in Lancashire, Cheshire (Eaton Hall) and Scotland. In addition to managing its traditional holdings, the Duke's property company, the Grosvenor Group, is an active property developer with interests around the world. It is the main developer of The Paradise Project in Liverpool.
The Duke joined the Territorial Army in 1970 as a trooper. After long service, including commanding 'C' squadron (The Cheshire Yeomanry) and his regiment, The Queen's Own Yeomanry, he became Honorary Colonel-in-Chief of several regiments, including The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry, 7th Regt. Army Air Corps, and the Canadian Royal Westminster Regiment and Colonel Commandant Yeomanry, Royal Armoured Corps. In 2004 he was appointed to the new post of Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets) with promotion to the rank of Major-General. He is the first reservist holding such rank since the 1930s.
In 2005, he became chancellor of the University of Chester.
The Duke married Natalia Ayesha Phillips in 1978. The Duchess is a direct descendant of the Russian poet Alexander S. Pushkin as well as Ibrahim Hannibal, a captive from Ethiopia who grew up at the Russian court, became a godson of Peter the Great, and married women of Greek and German origin. The Duke and Duchess have four children:
- Lady Tamara Katherine Grosvenor (b. December 20, 1979) married Edward Bernard Charles van Cutsem (November 6 2004)
- Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor (b. November 3, 1981)
- Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (b. January 29, 1991), the Duke's heir apparent.
- Lady Viola Georgina Grosvenor (b. October 12, 1992)
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