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Duke of Westminster

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Dukedom of Westminster
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).[1]
Creation date27 February 1874
Created byQueen Victoria
PeeragePeerage of the United Kingdom
First holderHugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster
Present holderHugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster
Heir apparentNone
Remainder to1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titlesMarquess of Westminster
Earl Grosvenor
Viscount Belgrave
Baron Grosvenor
Baronet, of Eaton
SeatsEaton Hall and Abbeystead House
MottoVIRTUS NON STEMMA
(Virtue, not ancestry)
Grosvenor Baronets
Azure, a garb Or, with canton of baronet
Creation date1622
Created byKing James VI and I
BaronetageBaronetage of England
First holderRichard Grosvenor
Present holderHugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster
Remainder to1st Baronet's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten

Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the British royal family.[2]

The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Dukes were each grandsons of the first. The present holder of the title is Hugh Grosvenor, the 7th Duke, who inherited the dukedom on 9 August 2016 on the death of his father, Gerald. The present duke is a godfather of Prince George of Wales.[3]

History of the Grosvenor family

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Richard Grosvenor was created Baronet of Eaton in January 1622.[4] Sir Richard Grosvenor, the 7th Baronet, was created Baron Grosvenor in 1761, and in 1784 became both Viscount Belgrave (Belgrave, Cheshire) and Earl Grosvenor under George III. The title Marquess of Westminster was bestowed upon Robert Grosvenor, the 2nd Earl Grosvenor, at the coronation of William IV in 1831.

In 1677 Sir Thomas Grosvenor took over the contract to marry Mary Davies, then aged 12, who was heir to 500 acres (200 hectares) of swampy land to the west of the boundary of London.[5][6]

The subsidiary titles are: Marquess of Westminster (created 1831), Earl Grosvenor (1784), Viscount Belgrave, of Belgrave in the County of Chester (1784), and Baron Grosvenor, of Eaton in the County of Chester (1761). The Dukedom and Marquessate are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the rest are in the Peerage of Great Britain. The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir to the Duke is Earl Grosvenor.

Estates and residences

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Country seats

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The Duke of Westminster's seats are at Eaton Hall, Cheshire, and at Abbeystead House, Lancashire. Halkyn Castle was built as a sporting lodge for the family in the early 1800s.

The traditional burial place of the Dukes is the Old Churchyard adjacent to St Mary's Church, Eccleston.

London residences

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Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster purchased the London townhouse of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh Gloucester House at No. 33 Upper Grosvenor Street, Mayfair for £20,000 in 1805, and took up residence at the property in 1808, after which the property was known as Grosvenor House. The house underwent a series of renovations and extensions during the Nineteenth century, and during its period of ownership by Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster it had become one of the largest private houses in London.[7][8]

The 1st Duke was predeceased by his eldest son Victor, Earl Grosvenor, who died in 1884; in 1885 the 1st Duke reserved one of the Grosvenor Estate houses in London, No. 35 Park Lane for the use of his widowed daughter-in-law Sibell, Countess Grosvenor. The house underwent £12,000 worth of renovations from 1885-86, and in 1887 Sibell took up residence at the house, where she lived with her three young children Lady Constance Grosvenor, Lady Lettice Grosvenor, Hugh, Earl Grosvenor (later 2nd Duke of Westminster), and her second husband George Wyndham. Sibell continued to reside at 35 Park Lane until her death in 1929; the house was later re-numbered as 99 Park Lane.[9]

Following the 1st Duke's death in December 1899 Grosvenor House was inherited by his grandson Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, who continued to maintain the house as his London residence prior to the outbreak of World War I in 1914.[8]: 223  By December 1916 the House had ceased to be used as a private residence,[10] and was requisitioned by the British Government as offices for sections of the Ministry of Food. Following the conclusion of the War the 2nd Duke did not resume occupation of Grosvenor House; his second-cousin George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland reportedly expressed some interest in leasing Grosvenor House, but it was instead eventually leased to the Dowager Lady Michelham in 1919.[8]: 223  In 1924 the lease of Grosvenor House was purchased by William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme who planned to turn the property into a National Art Gallery; however his death in 1925 prevented this.[8]: 223  Grosvenor House was later demolished in 1927 and replaced by the Grosvenor House Hotel, which opened in 1929.[11]

Following the closure of Grosvenor House, the 2nd Duke used a smaller house on the Grosvenor Estate, Bourdon House on the corner of Davies Street and Bourdon Street in Mayfair as his London residence from 1917, which continued to be his London home until his death in 1953. His widowed fourth wife, Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster continued to occupy the house until 1957.[12]

Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster maintained an apartment at No. 100 Eaton Square from c. 1970 until his death in 1979,[13] which continued to be used as the London residence of his son Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster as of 2015.[14]

Grosvenor Baronets, of Eaton (1622)

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Barons Grosvenor (1761)

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Created by George III of Great Britain
# Name
(lifespan)		 Period Spouse Notes Other titles
1st Richard Grosvenor
(1731–1802)		 1761–1802 Henrietta Vernon Later created Earl Grosvenor —

Earls Grosvenor (1784)

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Created by George III of Great Britain
# Name
(lifespan)		 Period Spouse Notes Other titles
1st Richard Grosvenor
(1731–1802)		 1784–1802 Henrietta Vernon Already Baron Grosvenor Viscount Belgrave, Baron Grosvenor
2nd Robert Grosvenor
(1767–1845)		 1802–1845 Eleanor Egerton Son of the preceding, later created Marquess of Westminster

Marquesses of Westminster (1831)

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St Mary's Church, Eccleston, Grosvenor Chapel: Cenotaph and Garter banner of Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster
Created by William IV of the United Kingdom
# Name
(lifespan)		 Period Spouse Notes Other titles
1st Robert Grosvenor
(1767–1845)		 1831–1845 Eleanor Egerton Already Earl Grosvenor Earl Grosvenor
Viscount Belgrave
Baron Grosvenor
2nd Richard Grosvenor
(1795–1869)		 1845–1869 Elizabeth Leveson-Gower Son of the preceding
3rd Hugh Grosvenor
(1825–1899)		 1869–1899 Constance Sutherland-Leveson-Gower Son of the preceding, later created Duke of Westminster
Jockey Colours of Duke of Westminster

Dukes of Westminster (1874)

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Created by Queen Victoria
# Name
(lifespan)		 Period Spouse Notes Other titles
1st Hugh Grosvenor
(1825–1899)		 1874–1899 Constance Sutherland-Leveson-Gower
Katherine Cavendish		 Already Marquess of Westminster Marquess of Westminster
Earl Grosvenor
Viscount Belgrave
Baron Grosvenor
2nd Hugh Grosvenor
(1879–1953)		 1899–1953 Constance Cornwallis-West
Violet Nelson
Loelia Ponsonby
Anne Sullivan		 Grandson of the preceding
3rd William Grosvenor
(1894–1963)		 1953–1963 unmarried Son of the second son of the first duke
4th Gerald Grosvenor
(1907–1967)		 1963–1967 Sally Perry Son of the third son of the first duke
5th Robert Grosvenor
(1910–1979)		 1967–1979 Viola Lyttelton Brother of the preceding
6th Gerald Grosvenor
(1951–2016)		 1979–2016 Natalia Phillips Son of the preceding
7th Hugh Grosvenor
(b. 1991)		 since 2016 Olivia Henson Son of the preceding

Line of succession

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As of 2026, there is no heir to the Dukedom of Westminster, as the current Duke has no sons; his only child is a daughter, Lady Cosima Florence Grosvenor, who was born on 27 July 2025.

The Earl of Wilton is heir presumptive to the Marquessate, and would succeed as the 10th Marquess.

Family tree

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Duke of Westminster nominations Archived 21 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine, CVQO. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "Duke - Debrett's". Debrett's. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  3. ↑ "Prince George's godparents announced". BBC News. 23 October 2013. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  4. ↑ George Edward Cokayne Complete Baronetage Volume 1 1900
  5. ↑ Neate, Rupert (25 April 2023). "Duke of Westminster: the London property baron born with 'longest silver spoon'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Phillips, Hugh (1964). Mid-Georgian London. London: Collins. pp. facing p.70.
  7. ↑ Sykes, Christopher Simon (1986). Private Palaces: Life in the Great London Houses. New York: Viking. p. 251.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Dykes, Christina (2021). Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster (1879–1953), known as 'Bend'Or': A Reappraisal (Doctoral thesis). University of Buckingham. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Sheppard, F. H. W., ed. (1980). "Park Lane". Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings). London: London County Council. pp. 264–289. Retrieved 1 July 2026 – via British History Online.
  10. ↑ "Grosvenor House closed: Duke of Westminster living at Bourdon House, Davies Street". Chester Chronicle, and Cheshire and North Wales General Advertiser. 2 December 1916. p. 8. Retrieved 6 October 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Sheppard, F. H. W., ed. (1980). "Upper Grosvenor Street: Introduction". Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings). London: London County Council. pp. 222–224. Retrieved 1 July 2026 – via British History Online.
  12. ↑ "Davies Street Area: Davies Street, East Side". www.british-history.ac.uk. British Library. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  13. ↑ Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage. 1967. pp. 2796–2798. Retrieved 1 July 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ↑ "London's top five most desirable garden squares". Spear's. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  15. ↑ Morris, Susan; Bosberry-Scott, Wendy; Belfield, Gervase, eds. (2019). "Westminster, Duke of". Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Vol. 1 (150th ed.). London: Debrett's. pp. 3604–3606. ISBN 978-1-9997-6705-1.
  16. ↑ Morris, Susan; Bosberry-Scott, Wendy; Belfield, Gervase, eds. (2019). "Wilton, Earl of". Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Vol. 1 (150th ed.). London: Debrett's. pp. 3650–3653. ISBN 978-1-9997-6705-1.
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