Royal news – live: William serves as usher at Duke of Westminster Hugh Grosvenor’s wedding as Harry stays away

We are now just over three hours away from the royal wedding of the Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, and Olivia Henson – and more fine detail has been released on what we can expect.

The pair will marry at Chester Cathedral at noon today, with a spokesperson for them saying this morning that “their own personal stamp” has been laid on all the arrangements.

Particular focus, they said, had been made to involve local and regional suppliers.

And so, the Dean of Chester, the Very Revd Dr Tim Stratford, will lead the ceremony, while the Bisoph of Chester, the Right Revd Mark Tanner will conduct the preaching.

The service will be sung by the Chester Cathedral Choir, accompanied by a group of muscians from north west England.

Miss Henson will takel to the cathedral with her father in a vintage Bentley, provided by the Heritage Collection of Bentley Motors in Crewe.

After the ceremony, the Duke and Duchess of Westminster will travel back to Eaton Estate, where they will host a private wedding reception for guests.

All the flowers for the wedding service are British, with the Duke and Miss Henson choosing seasonal flowers sourced from local growers through the “Flowers from the Farm” network, which champions artisan growers.

As the historic city of Chester gets ready for what’s been billed as the “society wedding of the year”, work is well underway this morning to prepare for the ceremony, which begins at midday.

Scaffolding has gone up outside Chester Cathedral as workers add greenery to the external stonework while police are searching the area with sniffer dogs as part of the usual security checks for a royal event.

Last night, Princess Eugenie was among the guests seen at pre-wedding drinks at the Grosvenor hotel, before reportedly leaving with others at around midnight.

Princess Eugenie, a daughter of Prince Andrew, had not been previously confirmed as a guest for the ceremony.

With Prince Harry set to not make his close friend Hugh Grosvenor’s wedding on Friday, questions have been raised as to why.

There appears to be no question that the Duke of Sussex was invited to the ceremony at Chester Cathedral.

But royal author Tom Quinn told The Mirror that Harry felt he should have been invited to be an usher for his old friend, a role his brother William will take up amid tensions between the pair.

He said: “Harry hates the idea of completely losing touch with his old Etonian and army friends and he was close to Hugh Grosvenor, but attending a wedding at which his brother will be an usher is just history repeating itself in the most painful way.”

Both Harry and Hugh reached a “civilised understanding” on his decision not to attend, according to reports.

Prince Harry is set to miss his close friend’s nuptials on Friday while his brother, Prince William, serves as an usher.

The Duke of Westminster is set to wed his fiancée Olivia Henson, 31, at Chester Cathedral on Friday in what is billed to be the society wedding of the year.

Hugh Grosvenor, 33, has long had close associations with the monarchy and is the godfather of both William and Kate’s eldest son, Prince George, 10, and Harry’s son, Archie, five.

However only one of the royal brothers will be attending the celebrations amid continued tensions between the pair.

A source close to Harry told People magazine that he decided against attending the wedding after acknowledging the difficulties his presence would cause.

It could also reflect a potential change in English law should they have children.

Under traditional guidelines, peerages like this only pass to male heirs, which means that should the couple have a daughter, she will be known as a lady and not inherit the dukedom – and notably her family’s considerable wealth.

But the Hereditary Titles (Female Succession) Bill could change everything for their future children and is the reason that the Duke has his family’s vast wealth and not his older sister, Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor, 42.

Under the new bill, which is set to be given a second reading on 21 June, female heirs could be able to take on a hereditary peerage or baronetcy.

While the specifics of how the venue will be decorated and features like music remain under wraps, it has been confirmed to take place at Chester Cathedral.

The happy couple recently paid the historic building a visit, with Grosvenor joking that his next visit will be “slightly more nerve-wracking.”

The 33-year-old, who famously owns “half of Mayfair”, opened up to the Chester Standard about why it was the perfect venue to marry Henson, an account manager at the environmentally friendly b-corp Belazu, who he met through friends.

Grosvenor, now the third richest man in the UK, inherited his wealth and property empire upon his father’s death in 2016. He has previously worked for environmental causes and runs the Grosvenor Group Limited with sustainability in mind.

“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,” he said.

There will reportedly be around 400 guests at the Duke of Westminster’s wedding including big names like Prince William and Prince George.

As the Princess of Wales has been out of the spotlight since January, she is not expected to make an appearance, and it is speculated that neither will her younger children, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Prince Harry decided against attending the society wedding of the year after acknowledging the difficulties his presence would cause, it has been claimed.

Other notable names set to appear include TV historian Dan Snow, who has been married to Lady Edwina Grosvenor since 2010.

While King Charles and Camilla have been invited, it is not known whether they will attend.

As the Duke of Westminster – formerly ‘Britain’s most eligible bachelor’ – gets married, all eyes are on the biggest name missing from the grandest guest list. Polly Dunbar charts Prince Harry’s sorrowful separation from the ‘sustainable Saltburn set’ he was once so happily at the heart of…

Once described as Britain’s most eligible bachelor, Mr Grosvenor met his new wife through friends and they announced their engagement in 2023.

Since inheriting the Grosvenor Estate in 2016, after the sudden death at the age of 64 of his father, Gerald Grosvenor, his wealth has come under much scrutiny.

Estimated to be worth around £10.127 billion, he owns roughly half of Mayfair and is officially the richest man in the UK under the age of 40.

Since stepping back as working royals in 2020, the Sussexes have been stripped of around-the-clock protection and must apply to the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office in advance.

They can no longer use their former Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage, although Harry was offered a place to stay in a royal residence during his trip to London last month.

The couple have had a strained relationship with their royal relatives ever since a series of bombshell interviews and Harry’s memoir, Spare, which detailed the tension between him, William and their father, the King.

Despite the awkwardness, the duke, known to those close to him as Hughie, is one of the few friends who has maintained a close relationship with both brothers.