LONDON — LONDON (AP) — Prince William He took a day off from royal duties on Friday to serve as an usher at the wedding of his friend Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, an event briefly disrupted by environmental protesters.
The wedding of Grosvenor, 33, one of Britain’s richest landowners, to his partner Olivia Henson, 31, is one of Britain’s high society events of the year.
William, 41, arrived with his fellow ushers at Chester Cathedral in northwest England before the midday service. The venue is near the duke’s 10,000-acre (4,000-hectare) Eaton Hall estate, where guests were due to attend a private wedding reception.
Hundreds of curious onlookers gathered outside the cathedral applauded the arrival of Grosvenor, dressed in a morning suit, and Henson, in a white wedding dress by British designer Emma Victoria Payne. His long veil, which he wore over a tiara, billowed in the wind.
As the couple emerged from the cathedral to kiss in front of the waiting crowd, two environmental protesters sprayed orange powder with a fire extinguisher. The police quickly took them away.
Cheshire Police said a 69-year-old woman and a 73-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of public order offences. The group Just Stop Oil said the two were its members and were demanding an end to fossil fuel extraction.
Grosvenor is godfather to 10-year-old Prince George, the eldest son of William and his wife Kate.
Kate, you’re being treated for cancer, did not attend the wedding. He was also not William’s estranged younger brother. Prince Harrywho lives in California with his wife Meghan and their two children.
Grosvenor inherited his title at the age of 25 when his father died in 2016. His ancestor, Sir Thomas Grosvenor, married the heiress Mary Davies and acquired what was then a marshland in 1677. Over generations, the The family developed the land into two of the most prosperous areas of London. neighborhoods, Mayfair and Belgravia.
The family’s Grosvenor Estate owns 300 acres (121 hectares) of land in London, as well as land in Britain and homes, offices and commercial spaces around the world.
The 2024 Sunday Times Rich List estimated the duke’s wealth at just over £10 billion ($12.8 billion).
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