ROYAL INSPIRATION
How Duke of Westminster & his fiancee took inspiration from Princess Kate for their lavish wedding
Details of the lavish wedding revealed below
THE Duke of Westminster is tying the knot with his fiancee today - in a wedding that's taken inspiration from Princess Kate's big day.
Hugh Grosvenor, 33, is marrying Olivia Henson, 31, at Chester Cathedral, and it’s set to be the society wedding of the year.
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The Duke, who was once dubbed the UK's richest bachelor, is King Charles' godson, and the godfather of both Prince George and Archie.
Prince William is set to be an usher at the wedding, while Prince Harry was said to have agreed not to attend to avoid clashes with his brother amid their rift.
The King and Princess Kate were said to have been invited to the big day, too, but it's understood they won't due to their health.
But it could feel like the Princess of Wales is there in spirit - the couple appear to have drawn decorative inspiration from when she and Wills wed in 2011.
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Snaps of preparations at Chester Cathedral show van loads of flowers being brought in, with scaffolding surrounding parts of the church.
Workers could be seen hauling trees towards the venue, while bouquets of flowers lined the streets nearby.
The happy couple are said to have ordered 10,000 flowers in for the occasion, which 400 of their nearest and dearest will attend.
The greenery mirrors that of Kate and Wills' wedding, where they filled Westminster Abbey with trees.
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Six field maple trees and two hornbeams lined the isle and sat near the altar for the Royal wedding.
Kate was also said to have brought in nearly 30,000 flowers for the wedding.
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The Duke of Westminster is said to have paid to have 10,000 flowers planted throughout the city for the occasion - and they're all 100% British.
A spokesperson for him and Olivia this morning said: “The Duke and Miss Henson have taken a great deal of care in planning the wedding, putting their own personal stamp on all the arrangements and have made a conscious effort to involve local and regional suppliers in several aspects of the day.
"This is an incredibly special day for the Duke and Miss Henson and they are very much looking forward to the service.
"The couple have also been moved by the messages of support they have received from around the region and are hugely grateful that people want to share in their happiness."
The couple announced yesterday that the hundreds of well-wishers who line the streets will be given free ice cream while A-List guests file into the chapel.
Even the phone boxes were getting a spruce up - with a painter seen touching up the gold crowns at the top with strict attention to detail.
The Duke recently revealed why the couple decided on the church as the venue.
He said: "We've obviously got a long association with the cathedral as a family so we were here for my father's memorial, my sister's wedding and every Remembrance Sunday that I can attend is here.
Kate & Wills' wedding
The Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton took place on April 29, 2011, and was declared a public holiday in the UK.
Since William isn't the first in line to the throne, the wedding was not a full state occasion, which meant many details of the big day were left down to the couple.
The wedding was watched live by 36million people and was jam-packed with all the usual pomp and ceremony of a royal occasion.
The engagement came seven years after Kate and Wills first got together, in October 2010, sparking mass excitement all over the world.
"But I'm unbelievably excited and I also wanted to make it very clear how unbelievably helpful people have been, how supportive they've been so far, which I'm unbelievably grateful for because I do realise that it's going to be a big, big thing for the city.”
It's not been revealed how much money is being poured into the big day - but it's expected to be a decent fortune.
Hugh became a billionaire at the young age of 25, after his father Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor died in 2016 of heart attack aged 64.
Born on January 29, 1991, Hugh was the youngest son of Gerald and Natalia Phillips – who can trace her own lineage back to Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.
This left him head of a property empire that has swept up more than 1,500 buildings around the world.
The Grosvenor Group owns about 300 acres of land in Mayfair and Belgravia - which is why Hugh is often described as owning "half of London".
In addition to this, they own major city centre developments such as Liverpool's ONE shopping centre, Tokyo apartments, a “large chunk” of Silicon Valley and Annacis Island, off Vancouver.
He and Olivia met through friends in 2021, after two years of dating, the Duke proposed to her at Eaton Hall, which is his sprawling family estate in Cheshire.
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Olivia works for London-based food firm Belazu and is said to speak Italian and Spanish.
She will become the new Duchess of Westminster, once they are wed.
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