— and Prince William may be a godfather!
Congratulations are in order for the Duke and Duchess of Westminster, Hugh and Olivia Grosvenor, who are expecting their first child.
A spokesperson for the couple said in a statement released on March 12: “The Duke and Duchess of Westminster are very pleased to share that the Duchess is expecting a baby in the summer. The couple are delighted with the news and are very much looking forward to starting a family together.”
The child has some royal ties even before its birth, as Hugh is close friends with Prince William and Prince Harry. The Duke of Westminster is also a godfather to both of their first sons: Prince George and Prince Archie.
Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, and Olivia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, share a kiss after their wedding ceremony at Chester Cathedral on June 7, 2024. Chris Jackson/Getty
The Duke and Duchess tied the knot on June 7, 2024, with Prince William serving as an usher for the ceremony at Chester Cathedral. Princess Eugenie was also a guest at the high society wedding.
While Prince Harry declined an invitation to the wedding, a source told PEOPLE at the time that his absence from Hugh’s wedding was an “understanding between the two friends.”
Hugh and Olivia met through friends, and he proposed to her at Eaton Hall, his family’s ancestral seat on the outskirts of Chester. The couple gave back to his hometown before their big day, visiting the children’s programmes that the Westminster Foundation puts on at Chester Castle.
Hugh’s ties to the royal family trace back generations. He is a godson of King Charles and his mother, Natalia, is a godmother to Prince William.
Prince William attends the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Westminster on June 7, 2024. Samir Hussein/Samir HusseinWireImage
The 34-year-old British aristocrat inherited his title and the Grosvenor estate, when his father Gerald Grosvenor, died in 2016. At the time of his death, the late Duke was the sixth richest British citizen, with a net worth estimated at $12.15 billion, according to The Sunday Times’ Rich List 2016.
Per the latest version of that list, the Grosvenors have remained one of the wealthiest families in the U.K. since, with a net worth now estimated at $12.8 billion. A few weeks before his wedding, Hugh was reported to be the richest person in the U.K. under age 40 and the 14th wealthiest overall.
