Rich List 2017
Newcastle’s bacchanalian student nightlife, as
several photos from his first year reveal. The tabloids
couldn’t resist snaps of him wearing a pink teddy
bear onesie and grappling with a blow-up doll.
When he parties at home he does things in grander
style. His 21st birthday bash was a dinner
and disco — its dress code “black tie and neon” —
held at Eaton Hall. Hundreds of guests, including
Prince Harry, were treated to performances by the
comedian Michael McIntyre and the hip-hop duo
Rizzle Kicks. The party was said to have cost £5m,
although not all the guests were denizens of the
future duke’s cosseted world. In fact the majority
were staff who worked on the estate.
Towards the end of his time at Newcastle,
Grosvenor focused on his studies. “He hung out with
a select group of about five people who were loyal to
him and wouldn’t go mouthing off about him or his
wealth,” a fellow student says. “I never once saw him
clubbing in his final year, but he would sometimes
drink at [the student bar] Jam Jar.” He got his reward
— a 2:1 in agriculture, making him the first Duke of
Westminster to hold a university degree.
Hughie had a happy and relaxed childhood. He
grew up at Eaton Hall with his parents and sisters:
Tamara, 37, who is now Tamara van Cutsem, thanks
to her wedding in 2004 to Edward, a scion of the
Norfolk landowning family; Lady Edwina, 35, a
prisons campaigner who is married to the television
historian Dan Snow; and Lady Viola, 24,
a trainee art psychotherapist and ambassador for
Kidscape, the anti-bullying charity.
Growing up, Grosvenor was rarely short of
company. “I visited once when Hugh was about
eight,” says a woman familiar with the family. “He
was sitting on the floor playing with the dogs. Mum
and Dad and his sisters were around. The fireplace
was crackling. The butler was the only thing that was
unusual. He brought tea in a china cup.”
As an infant, he played board games with his
mother, Natalia “Tally” Phillips, a distant cousin of
the Queen, and learnt how to shoot with his father.
In 2013 his “graceful” marksmanship earned him a
spot on The Field magazine’s coveted Top Shots list.
Its editor wrote: “Hughie’s a great shot on the grouse
— when he can see over the top of the butt.”
Grosvenor’s parents hoped he would take over
the estate once he inherited the dukedom, but his
father insisted that he would “force nothing on
anybody, let alone my children”. They were adamant,
however, that Hugh would wear his status lightly.
The family’s motto is “Virtus non stemma”, which
translates as “Virtue not pedigree”, but Gerald put
it more bluntly: “He’s been born with the longest
silver spoon anyone can have, but he can’t go through
life sucking on it.”
In line with this philosophy, Grosvenor attended
Eccleston state primary school near Chester. The
die-hard Liverpool fan played football and tried toact like everyone else, even though his family owned
the village and the land surrounding it. He went on to
Ellesmere College, a laid-back boarding school in
Shropshire, where annual fees for boarders come
close to £31,000, but according to Tatler, its pupils are
“just as likely to go to Oxford Brookes” as Oxbridge.
It is ranked 358th out of 401 independent schools in
The Sunday Times Parent Power guide.
There he gained a reputation as a sharp student and
a great all-round sportsman, as old school magazines
record. “Only a typically pugnacious knock of 34 not
out by Hugh Grosvenor spared our blushes,” the head
of classics wrote of the 14-year-old’s innings at a
cricket match in north Wales. He was made prefect
and captain of his boarding house in the sixth form.
Grosvenor must now decide how involved he
wishes to become in the family business. He
succeeded his father as one of the Grosvenor Estate
trusts’ seven trustees last year, making him the
family’s sole representative in the boardroom. The
trustees oversee the estate for the benefit of current
and future members of the Grosvenors.
The family’s wealth has been held in a series of
trusts since the 1950s, a structure designed to ensure
its fortune does not rest on the health or actions of
one individual. This structure ensures his daily
presence is not required. Besides, he enjoys life at
Bio-bean, anarchist invasions notwithstanding.
There is no reason why a hands-off approach
shouldn’t suit all parties for now. In recent years
the Grosvenor family has modernised its governance
and appointed a group chief executive, Mark
Preston, who has worked for the family for 25 years.
The business is in reasonable health: the Grosvenor
Group returned a £527m profit in 2015. It has £6.7bn
of property with a £5.6bn development pipeline. The
total asset wealth of the family is £9.48bn.
Yet Hugh’s presence could well be required in
years to come. The Grosvenor Estate’s resilience
— it has survived numerous wars, recessions,
depressions and changes to taxation laws — has
often depended on the vision and will of a single
figurehead. Tax will always be a key issue. The
Grosvenors’ trust structure ensures the family,
like most other aristocratic families, does not pay
inheritance tax. However, the trusts still pay capital
gains tax and income tax, as well as tax on their
total assets once every 10 years.
There is also the small matter of marriage, which
means rather more when you’re a Grosvenor.
Although he is routinely referred to as one of the
world’s most eligible bachelors, it was revealed
earlier this year that Hughie has a girlfriend. Harriet
Tomlinson attended Ellesmere where they were both
members of the school’s Combined Cadet Force in
2009, and went on to study teaching at the University
of Wales Institute Cardiff (now Cardiff Metropolitan
University). Her father, Grahame, 81, owned a curtain
factory and she grew up in Chester near Eaton Hall.
Harriet now works as a consultant on the estate
agency desk at Deverell Smith, a recruitment firm in
the City of London. Hughie has taken her on a luxury
holiday to California and reports say the couple are
“blissfully happy”.
While their long-term intentions remain
unclear, one thing is certain. Whether suitors or
anarchist anoraks, a long line of people is awaiting
Hughie’s next move nThe Sunday Times Magazine • 29PEDIGREE CHUMS
Grosvenor, pictured
at a society wedding
in 2013, is close friends
with Prince HarryThe family portfolio
makes him the richest
aristocrat in Britain. He is
also the best connected
older sisters2
years old when he
inherited his title25
acres of London at
the heart of his
family’s fortune300
pounds reported cost of
his 21st birthday bash5m
pounds profits
of Grosvenor Group
in 2015527m
SILVERHUB