Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster

Major-General His Grace
The Duke of Westminster
KG CB CVO OBE TD CD DL

Photographed by Allan Warren in 1997
Personal details
Born Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor
(1951-12-22) 22 December 1951
Omagh, Northern Ireland, UK
Spouse(s) Natalia Phillips
Children Lady Tamara Grosvenor
Lady Edwina Grosvenor
Hugh Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor
Lady Viola Grosvenor
Parents Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster
Viola Lyttelton
Residence Eaton Hall, Cheshire
Known for Landowning
Property development
Religion Anglican
Civilian awards Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Other titles Earl Grosvenor (1967-1979)
Website www.grosvenorestate.com
Military service
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  British Army
Years of service 1973-2012
Rank Major General
Unit North Irish Horse
Commands Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets) (2004-07)
Deputy Commander Land Forces (Reserves) (2011-12)
Military awards Companion of the Order of the Bath
Efficiency Decoration
Volunteer Reserves Service Medal
Canadian Forces Decoration

Major-General Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, KG, CB, CVO, OBE, TD, CD, DL (born 22 December 1951) is a British billionaire landowner, businessman and Territorial Army officer. He is the son of Robert George Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster, and The Hon. Viola Maud Lyttelton. He is Chairman of the property company Grosvenor Group.[1]

He was educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. In 2005, he became Chancellor of the University of Chester.

Via Grosvenor Estates, the Duke is the richest property developer in the United Kingdom and one of the country's largest landowners, with vast estates in Oxford, Cheshire and Scotland, as well as large areas of Mayfair and Belgravia in Central London, and elsewhere in Europe. According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2015, the Duke is worth £8.56 billion (about $13 billion), placing him ninth in the list and making him the third richest British national.

Military career

After leaving Harrow with two O-levels,[2] then Earl Grosvenor, he joined the Territorial Army in 1970 as a trooper.

After entering RMA Sandhurst in 1973, he passed out as an Officer Cadet and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve of the Royal Armoured Corps (Queen's Own Yeomanry) on 13 May 1973.[3][4] He was promoted to Lieutenant on 13 May 1975 and to Captain on 1 July 1980.[5][6] He was subsequently promoted to the acting rank of Major on 1 January 1985 and to the substantive rank on 22 December.[7]

Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 1 April 1992, he subsequently commanded the North Irish Horse, the Cheshire Yeomanry Squadron, founded by his ancestors, and the Queen's Own Yeomanry.[8] He was promoted to colonel on 31 December 1994 and was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 7th Regt. Army Air Corps (1 January 1996) and the Northumbrian Universities Officer Training Corps (30 November 1995).[9][10][11] Promoted to Brigadier on 17 January 2000, he was also appointed Honorary Colonel of the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry on 14 May 2001.[12][13] He was also appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Canadian Royal Westminster Regiment, the North Irish Horse and as Colonel Commandant Yeomanry.

The Duke was Grand Prior of the Priory of England of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, 1995–2001.[14]

In 2004 the Duke was appointed to the new post of Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets), with promotion in the rank of Major-General.

In March 2007, having served in the Ministry of Defence as Assistant CDS for four years, he handed over responsibility for 50,000 Reservists and 138,000 Cadets to Major-General Simon Lalor, in the wake of the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal in which he was implicated.[15] The Duke became Deputy Commander Land Forces (Reserves) in May 2011.[16] He retired in 2012.

He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) for his "military service" in the 2008 Birthday Honours. He is also an Honorary Vice-President of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and a member of the International Advisory Board of the RUSI.

He was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for "service as a member of the Council of the Duchy of Cornwall".[17]

Personal life

The Duke behind his desk in 1988

As a child the Duke lived on an island in the middle of Lough Erne. His early education was in Northern Ireland before attending Sunningdale School and Harrow School.

The Duke of Westminster married Natalia Ayesha Phillips, the daughter of Lt-Col. Harold Pedro Joseph Phillips and his wife Georgina Wernher, in 1978. His wife is a direct descendant of the Russian poet Alexander S. Pushkin and therefore of his African ancestor Abram Gannibal as well as of King George II, making her distantly in line to the British throne. Their children are:

Titles, styles, honours and Arms

Titles and styles

Honours

Orders

Decorations

Medals

Foreign dynastic orders

Appointments

Honorary military appointments

Arms

Arms of Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster
Notes
The dukedom of Westminster was created by Queen Victoria in 1874.
Coronet
A Coronet of a Duke
Crest
A Talbot statant Or
Escutcheon
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)
Supporters
On either side a Talbot reguardant Or collared Azure
Motto
Virtus Non Stemma (Virtue not ancestry)

Ancestry

See also

References

  1. ↑ www.grosvenor.com
  2. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Duke Of Westminster". BBC. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  3. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46013. p. 7556. 25 June 1973.
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46419. p. 12151. 2 December 1974.
  5. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 46621. p. 8373. 30 June 1975.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48337. p. 14267. 13 October 1980.
  7. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50485. p. 5171. 14 April 1986.
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 52885. p. 6174. 1 April 1992.
  9. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 54027. p. 6604. 5 May 1995.
  10. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 54320. p. 2559. 19 February 1996.
  11. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 54289. p. 690. 15 January 1996.
  12. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 55935. p. 8748. 8 August 2000.
  13. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 56249. p. 7221. 19 June 2001.
  14. ↑ "History". Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  15. ↑ Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff steps down, Daily Mail, Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  16. ↑ "Defence Viewpoints". Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  17. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60173. p. 3. 16 June 2012.
  18. ↑ Louis Hugh Lupus van Cutsem, Peerage News, Retrieved 2012-06-14.
  19. ↑ Levy, Geoffrey (15 February 2003). "Diana's godchildren". London: Daily Mail.
  20. ↑ Saad, Nardine (23 October 2013). "Prince George christened; William and Kate name seven godparents". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  21. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 50800. p. 461. 13 January 1987.
  22. ↑ "Simon Dack Pictures". Getty Images. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  23. ↑ "Key figures awarded Honorary Degrees and Fellowship". Harper Adams University. 27 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  24. ↑ "Honorary Degrees Awarded" (PDF). Keele University. July 2015.

External links


Military offices
New title Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets)
2004–2007 		Succeeded by
Simon Lalor
New title Deputy Commander Land Forces (Reserves)
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
Ranald Munro
Academic offices
New title Chancellor of the University of Chester
2005–present 		Incumbent
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Robert Grosvenor		 Duke of Westminster
1979–present 		Incumbent
Heir apparent:
Earl Grosvenor
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
The Duke of Abercorn		 Gentlemen
His Grace The Duke of Westminster 		Succeeded by
The Duke of Fife
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