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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Rebecca Russell

Prince George's billionaire godfather who owns some of the world's poshest places

The Royal Family are some of the most desirable figures to invite to become godparents, but asking them doesn’t always guarantee the role will be filled. In the past, Queen Victoria had around 58 godchildren, whereas today Queen Elizabeth has 29. Other royals also have several godchildren between them. Prince Charles has 27, Princess Anne has seven and Prince Edward has five.

There was a major change when Prince George's list of godparents was announced as the lineup largely consisted of friends of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, rather than just other royals or high-ranking members of the aristocracy. Those selected to take on the prestigious job were Oliver Baker, Emilia Jardine-Paterson, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, Julia Samuel, William Van-Cutsem, Zara Tindall and The Duke of Westminster.

Hugh Grosvenor is the 7th Duke of Westminster (PUBLICITY PIC)
The Duke of Westminster with The Duke of Cambridge (Getty Images)

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While one member of the Royal Family was honoured, one of the appointments that created the most excitement was the very young Duke of Westminster (then Earl Grosvenor) who is ranked as one of the richest billionaires in the world and owns huge portions of London.

Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor was born on January 29, 1991 in London and was the third of four children who were born to the late Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster and his wife, Natalia.

Hugh and his siblings were educated at a state primary school and then went on to study at the private Mostyn House School in Cheshire. He continued his education at Ellesmere College and then earnt a degree in countryside management from Newcastle University.

After a few years of working for various estate management companies, Hugh succeeded his father and became the 7th Duke of Westminster when the former Duke sadly died from a heart attack at the age of 64.

Hugh is the 7th Duke of Westminster (Getty Images)
Hugh is Prince George's godfather (The Duke and Duchess of Cambridg)

At the time of his succession, he inherited an estimated wealth of £9 billion and gained several new estates.

He is also known by the titles of Marquess of Westminster, Earl Grosvenor, Viscount Belgrave and Baron Grosvenor. Hugh also became the head of The Grosvenor Group upon his father's death which means he owns several huge areas of London, as well as land and over 1,500 buildings all across the world.

In London, the group owns Park Lane, half of Mayfair and 300 acres of Belgravia.

The family also has several enormous estates that include Eaton Hall in Cheshire and the Abbeystead Estate in Lancashire, as well as homes in Scotland and Spain.

Some of the most notable buildings owned by the group include the Liverpool One shopping centre, a residential tower in Tokyo, a large chunk of Silicon Valley in California and Annacis Island, near Vancouver.

Hugh is the world's richest person aged under 30, according to The Sunday Times Rich List and his family rank 12th place on the list.

While he is unmarried, his two elder sisters are Lady Tamara Katherine Grosvenor and Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor.

The former married Prince William's close friend Edward van Cutsem in 2004 and has three children, Jake, Louis and Isla van Cutsem. Lady Edwina married TV presenter and historian Dan Snow in 2010 and also has three children, Zia, Wolf and Orla.

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