All eyes in British society were locked on Chester Cathedral in northern England this morning, when Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster, tied the knot with his girlfriend of two years, Olivia Henson.
As a British aristocrat and head of the property management empire Grosvenor Group, the 33-year-old Grosvenor was long hailed as one of the most eligible bachelors in the United Kingdom. So naturally, everyone was interested when he found the love of his life in 2022. According to reports, it’s believed he and Henson, 31, were introduced through mutual friends—and clearly, they hit it off.
So, who is Olivia Henson and what does she do? Ahead, read everything we know about the new Duchess of Westminster.
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She is a senior account manager.
According to Sky News, Henson works as a senior account manager at Belazu, an ethical food production company in London that ships high-quality, sustainable natural ingredients to shoppers through collaborations with farmers.
The List notes that before joining Belazu, Henson worked with various other companies dedicated to sustainable and healthy food options, such as Daily Dose Juices and No1 Rosemary Water.
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She is multilingual.
Although Henson is very private about her life, she did reveal one tidbit on her LinkedIn: She’s a bit of a polyglot.
On a LinkedIn profile that appears to be hers (given the name and title at Belazu), she lists a “professional working proficiency” in Spanish, as well as a “limited working proficiency” in Italian, among her skills. These will certainly come in handy now that she’s married to an aristocrat.
She attended school at Marlborough.
Before she began her career, Henson went to the same boarding school where Princess Kate was once a student. The Daily Mail reports that Henson attended Marlborough College, in England’s Wiltshire county, a prestigious institution that enrolls only about 1,000 students.
After graduating from Marlborough, Henson went on to attend Trinity College in Dublin, where she focused on Hispanic studies and Italian (which explains where some of those language skills came from).
She is often compared to Kate Middleton.
Speaking of the Princess of Wales, many commentators have compared Henson to the royal, who is 11 years her senior. And there are quite a few parallels between the two women.
Not only did they attend the same school, they also each have two siblings, engage in philanthropic affairs, and they even look somewhat alike. And of course, with the public obsession over Henson’s marriage to the Duke of Westminster, we’re feeling some déjà vu, recalling when Princess Kate tied the knot with Prince William, in 2011.
She comes from an “aristocratic pedigree.”
As noted by the Daily Mail, while Henson’s marriage to Grosvenor means she is now the Duchess of Westminster, she actually already came from an aristocratic lineage.
Henson is the eldest daughter of Rupert and Caroline Henson, who is descended from Britain’s Hoare banking family and the Marquess of Bristol. The Mail also notes that Olivia is “descended from John Manners, the 5th Duke of Rutland, and is a distant cousin of the Manners sisters Lady Violet, Lady Alice and Lady Eliza.”
The Westminsters’ wedding was a star-studded affair.
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On the morning of Friday, June 7, Henson tied the knot with Grosvenor, her beau of two years, at Chester Cathedral in Chester, Cheshire, England, where the pews were stuffed with royals and aristocrats.
Prince William, who served as an usher at the wedding, was one of the 400 guests in attendance, and other high-profile attendees included Princess Eugenie and the Countess of Lichfield. The Dean of Chester officiated the service, while the Bishop of Chester preached.
Joel is the editorial and social media assistant for HarpersBAZAAR.com, where he covers all things celebrity news. When he steps away from the keyboard, you can likely find him singing off-key at concerts, scavenging thrift stores for loud wardrobe staples, or perusing bookstores for the next great gay romance novel.
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