The (Royal Adjacent) Wedding of the Season

All about the British billionaire duke known as ‘Hughie’ and his bride-to-be, Olivia Henson.

Note: This post has been updated following the wedding! Scroll down for pictures of the newlyweds and details on what the bride wore.

We are, very likely, many years off from another royal wedding in the Windsor family. The two youngest grandchildren of the late Queen Elizabeth II — Lady Louise and James, Earl of Wessex (the children of Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh) — are only age 20 and 16, respectively. Here’s to them enjoying their solo adult lives for as long as the choose, right?

In the absence of any royal family nuptials, the spotlight inevitably drifts to other members of British high society. For that rarefied bunch, the wedding of the season — not to sound too Bridgerton about it!— is upon us.

Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, is marrying fiancée Miss Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral on Friday, June 7. The 33-year-old duke is astonishingly (some might say absurdly) wealthy and an Olympic athlete to boot; his bride-to-be is often compared, looks-wise, to the princess formerly known as Kate Middleton. The Westminster family has close royal ties; Hugh is King Charles III’s godson, while Prince William is slated to be an usher at the wedding (Prince Harry, although also close with the duke, is not attending). 

I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole when it comes to this pair. Join me, won’t you? Below you will find what we know about the couple, including where the duke’s fortune comes from and Olivia’s sweet ambitions, as well as what folks thought of their exceedingly casual engagement photograph, and the best guess for what tiara the bride will wear.

Click below to share any predictions in the comments. And let’s keep the thread going to discuss what unfolds on Friday!

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The (Royal Adjacent) Wedding of the Season

The Duke of Westminster and Olivia Henson in a picture released to mark their engagement last year.