Duke Of Westminster

Because he's single, Marie Christine. Do your homework.

Billions... I should have asked my pimp to set me up with this one.

I can't remember whether he's the wealthiest man in Great Britain but he is known as the wealthiest of all the old line English aristos.

Notorious pussyhound. Big Bush supporter.

[quote] Notorious pussyhound. Big Bush supporter.

B/s. Fake news.

The Dukedom of Westminster only dates back to 1874 but the family are old line English aristos, originally fron Normandy.

They are very rich, Meghan, but not royal. So no HRH there.

He's rich. That's why he's Prince George’s godfather. Kate snagged him before Meghs turned up, ha-ha.

He looks like a high-rent version of Chris Hardwick. But yeah, I'd fuck him.

Um Hugh's mother is Will's godmother. The Grosvenors are very close to the BRF.

Hugh is 29yo and in the news today for giving NHS £12Million. He has been off and on attached to a woman he's known since school, but no engagement has been announced.

According to the Mail, has or had a girlfriend named Harriet Tomlinson. Also he doesn’t like to splash his money around (except for fancy cars and fancy birthday parties and fancy holidays)

The rich, they’re just like us.

“According to the Mail, has or had a girlfriend named Harriet Tomlinson.”

Harriet is too common of a name. It makes one think of a scullery maid. He needs to marry a Monique or Lavinia.

Monique or Lavinia?? Those are names of nurses aides, not Duchesses. Imogen or Alexandra or Arabella maybe.

Clémence

[quote] But yeah, I'd fuck him.

So would I. He looks good now, but beware the impending steep decline in looks. Now or never baby. Decline in looks, I say, not in wealth. Meghs would have been better off with him: not an HRH, for sure, but way richer than Hals and a relatively private individual, compared to the royals. All the Grosvenors are far too committed to their tenants and their estates, however, to contemplate a permanent move to ... LA.

I prefer the Duke of Eastminster.

BTW OP, it is irritating that you have spelt 'of' with a capital 'O'.

[quote] Monique or Lavinia?? Those are names of nurses aides, not Duchesses. Imogen or Alexandra or Arabella maybe.

You're in the wrong century.

In 2020, there are duchesses with names like Georgina, Sacha, Lynne, Gillian, and my favorite, Edla.

[quote] In 2020, there are duchesses with names like Georgina, Sacha, Lynne, Gillian, and my favorite, Edla.

Who, R16? Prove it.

The Duke of Cornwall's duchess is called Camilla.

The Duchess of Pork is Sarah

The Duchess of $u$$ex is Meghan, beloved of these threads.

The Duchess of Buccleuch is Elizabeth.

The Duchess of Argyll is Eleanor.

The Duchess of Richmond is Janet.

Georgina, Elizabeth, Eleanor, and Sarah seem like perfectly legitimate names for the fancy folks. Janet, Camilla, and Meghan, no. But I guess the heart wants what it wants.

As an aside, I was actually surprised Meghan didn’t begin to go by Rachel after her marriage.

The Duke's marriage will be a big deal for British society and the news thereof.

[quote] As an aside, I was actually surprised Meghan didn’t begin to go by Rachel after her marriage.

And start pronouncing Raquel, as many Hebrew do.

Probably dumb as a box rocks just like the rest of them.

From R20's link: "The Duke is notoriously private, but it seems that the pair have been away on a string of romantic mini-breaks, including to California where they stayed at the exclusive Ventana resort on the Big Sur Coast."

So will they call in on the Harkles, squatting on Doria's sofabed?

[quote] So will they call in on the Harkles, squatting on Doria's sofabed?

I don't predict that our "sh"edule will allow us the time to visit with the former Duke and his bit on the side.

I do wonder if Meghan has eyes on the Duke to contribute to her foundation.

What foundation R25?

His 21st birthday party cost £5 million. His classmates had no idea he was that rich.

R5, Normandy is England?

Damn, he's cute. I'd spread for him in a second.

R28 they moved from Normandy to England in AD1066. No, Normandy is not England, but the King of England was the Duke of Normandy.

So they owe their lineage to the French?

Didn't you see The Lion in Winter, r29?

[quote] Probably dumb as a box rocks just like the rest of them.

"Hughie was sent to a state primary school in Eccleston, near Chester, and then boarded at Ellesmere College in Shropshire, a £31,000-a-year public school noted for its relaxed atmosphere. He did well academically, was made a prefect and head of house, and became a star batsman for the school’s cricket team. He went on to Newcastle University and gained a 2:1 in agriculture, becoming the first Duke of Westminster to secure a degree."

[quote] So they owe their lineage to the French?

The French have nothing to do with it. The Duke's family are from Scandinavia originally, Vikings.

How can they be an old line of English aristos when the Dukedom was created in the 19th century by Queen Victoria?

Would that imply that before the dukedom was created they were not dukes?

[quote] the first Duke of Westminster to secure a degree

So the bar was low

[quote] How can they be an old line of English aristos when the Dukedom was created in the 19th century by Queen Victoria? Would that imply that before the dukedom was created they were not dukes?

They could’ve had other titles before creation of the dukedom.

[quote] Would that imply that before the dukedom was created they were not dukes?

They were not dukes before the dukedom was created, Rose.

[quote] They could’ve had other titles before creation of the dukedom.

Lots of other titles. The dukedom was the glacé cherry on the icing on the cake.

R38, thanks for clarifying because I'm a bit fed up with the myth-making of the European aristocracy and their 'mandate from heaven' bs like they have been around for ages to justify their privileges.

And how did they wound up being billionaires? I know you are going to say property, but what are their beginnings?

The titled line begins here.

The first Duke of Westminster had been previously styled as a Viscount, an Earl and a Marquess.

Every year he has a new toupee made from the pelt from the winner of last year's Westminster dog show. Look it up, it's an old medieval prerogative.

In other words, it's all made up propped by money no-one really knows how they got

Excerpt from Tatler -

“Still, one guest who did know all about Hughie was Harriet Tomlinson, a schoolfriend from Ellesmere College. Harriet, 26, has been Hughie’s on-off girlfriend for more than a decade. Her father, Grahame, 81, ran a family curtain-making business, Montgomery Tomlinson, that went into administration in 2013. Grahame and his wife, Louise, 55, live in a Victorian house on the banks of the River Dee in Chester, where Harriet and her sister Grace, 23, grew up. According to a Grosvenor Estate insider, Hughie is a frequent visitor to the Tomlinson home, where there’s a motorboat on a river mooring. Hughie and Harriet would take the boat along the river, through Chester and then south to the Eaton Estate and Hughie’s home, the source said. “

R42, in the link you have provided before the baron of Eaton is says: New Creation. So, maybe he blew someone and the person who received the bj decided to give him a baronetcy.

[quote] Janet, Camilla, and Meghan, no. But I guess the heart wants what it wants.

Janet and Camilla are very old names, and perfectly respectable even in the 19th century as names for duchesses. "Janet" is a variant of "Jeanette" (Fr.) or "Joan" (Eng.), and was extremely popular in Scotland during the Renaissance. (The Duchess of Hamilton in the early 16th century was named Janet, for example.) "Camilla" is an ancient Roman name, and the mighty warrior princess of the Volsci in Virgil's "The Aeneid" is called Camilla. Several dukes (including the 11th Duke of Leeds) have named their daughters Camilla, and long before Camilla Parker-Bowles became Duchess of Cornwall.

Meg(h)an is also an old name (a Welsh one), and is a variant form of "Margaret." It would have been much rarer before the 20th century than the other two, and much less likely to be in use for a duchess's name.

William of Normandy was a bastard.

They are not Vikings. They are as R42 describes.

[quote] In other words, it's all made up propped by money no-one really knows how they got

They got their wealth from real estate. The owned a lot of real estate (farms, marshes) to the west of old London towne; as London spread they got rich; they were especially fortunate as some of the best parts of London belonged to them in the 19th and 20th centuries.

R50, ha, ha....

R48 this is why I love DL. Thank you!

[quote] ha, ha....

... laughing all the way to the bank, National Westiminster Bank, ha, ha....

Isn't the duke from the Earl of Chester line?

His sisters both married hot guys (Dan Snow and Edward van Cutsem).

Here’s Edward on his wedding day.

This is very educational. I thought the duke was in a direct line from Hugo Lupus and that that was why Lupus Street in the City of Westminster was so named. What frauds and snobs the Grosvenors are; they are totally 17th century... ha-ha... but still, they are rich parvenus. Only £10b, nothing like our own Bezos etc.

[quote] His sisters both married hot guys (Dan Snow and Edward van Cutsem).

A fur trimmed wedding gown! I'm green with envy.

[quote]Monique or Lavinia?? Those are names of nurses aides, not Duchesses.

In Gosford Park, one of Lady Sylvia's (Kristin Scott-Thomas) sisters is Lady Lavinia. Surely a snob like Julian Fellowes wouldn't have named her Lavinia if it were a working class sort of name?

R56, at least we know where Bezos got his money from. I can't stand the guy and I don't approve of his methods, but you have to admire the ingenuity and hard work that goes into creating your own company from the ground up and becoming what Amazon has turned into, but all the other 'royals' and 'aristos' in Europe who knows....It's all smoke and mirrors.

[quote]but all the other 'royals' and 'aristos' in Europe who knows....It's all smoke and mirrors.

Yeah, and they weren't satisfied with their grifting during WW1 they had to go and create WW2 so they could get more.

[quote] but you have to admire the ingenuity and hard work

You have no idea of the ingenuity and hard work of the Grosvenors/Westminsters. They are the last family to be given a dukedom (outside the BRF).

Come on R61, stop trying to compare the truly gifted wealth creators that have changed the world of the ordinary person in everyday life: the Googles, the the Amazons, etc... with the dark arts of the European royalty/aristocracy rentiers and parasites.

[quote] They got their wealth from real estate. The owned a lot of real estate (farms, marshes) to the west of old London towne; as London spread they got rich; they were especially fortunate as some of the best parts of London belonged to them in the 19th and 20th centuries

And they got their land by marrying someone with lots of it

R62 Did your family make £11b in 450 years?

R64, did yours?

[quote]Did your family make £11b in 450 years?

No, but we got a council flat that had just been freshly painted in 1977.

Half of France used to be part of England.

Is he related to Hugh Grant?

No R67, these were all separate domains. England, Anjou. France. Acquitaine.

I always thought Katharine Hepburn was very big in Acquitaine.

The family seat, Eaton Hall, this Victorian monster was mostly torn down decades ago, replaced by a hideous modern house. At least they left the giant chapel, bell tower, and stables. Criminal destruction.

What foundation? Harkles downsized to a non profit. Meghan hitting up Will's bff for money would likely be a fool's errand.

The vacation pics were from more than a few years ago. There are whispers Ms. Harriet is decamping to So. Africa.

Eaton Hall demolition in 1963

R71 why was it torn down? Were the heating bills too high?

[quote]Were the heating bills too high?

No, the ceilings. Have you ever tried to get a mirror on the ceiling of a grand estate bedroom?

Given the timing of it's destruction, I imagine it was the taxes. Many, many great houses in Britain were pulled down in the 1960's in the face of the recent imposition of ultra-high estate taxation.

The English held onto their land and rented it. In the US, everyone sold it as soon as it became valuable. It’s bizarre to me that so much of London is based on land leases.

After they pulled down Eaton Hall they replaced it in the 1970's with this monstrosity, thought to be so ugly that in the 1990's it was entirely refaced in a more classical French style cladding.

What good is an HRH if you can't use it? I'd rather be a member of a monied noble family than part of the royal family. Who wants to be forced to sing Christmas carols at nursing homes?

[quote] What good is an HRH

If you live that life, that kind of shit is the stuff which drives people mad: Edward of Windsor; Diana of Wales. It's the kind of thing that really matters to people like that.

Link to the Porden building started in 1803.

R78's pic is very forgiving. The other side of that building looked abominable; I can't find a pic of it - obviously the Dook has availed himself of the EU 'right to be forgotten', at least as far as the old building is concerned.

First, the Duke of Westminster is the second wealthiest man in Britain. The family's fortune comes from the fact that they own a large chunk of London. They owned the ground on which the old US Embassy stood. Land still equals wealth for his family.

Second, most aristocratic families today in England are not direct lineages back to the Norman Conquest or earlier. Family lines died out, and the title was passed on to collateral branches. Look at the Royal Family itself. Yes, Queen Elizabeth II can trace her lineage back to William the Conqueror, but various dynasties stand between the two. And you can even argue the House of Windsor will die with her.

As for titles, most dukes in England and Scotland are of comparatively recent origin. When James VI ascended the English throne in 1603, there were no non-royal dukes in England (the Norfolk title was under attainder).

The 7th Duke is quite a catch. Wish he were gay and I were 25 years younger!

The present duke is called Grosvenor, like all his predecessors. In the City of Westminster, London there is a street called Lupus Street; I assume this is a rather lame attempt of the Grosvenors to connect themselves to Hugo Lupus who was Earl of Chester; Eaton Hall is near Chester. R83 : does the current duke have any known connection to Hugo Lupus?

Eaton Hall is tacky. It looks like a hotel. Like a chain hotel. And the gates are something Michael Jackson would have been proud to have

R81's picture of the place looks like it's a building at a university

Nouveaux-riches, but friendly.

His dad loved hookers. He even got caught up in the Elliott Spitzer scandal. He was a cheap piece of shit who used to try to haggle with the prostitutes over how much they charged. He liked them young and he always begged to have unprotected sex

William and Kate have borrowed his private jet for vacations

Unfotunately his dad was clinically depressed.

A tragic situation for the 3rd duke.