Friends and family of The Duke of Westminster gathered in Chester yesterday for a memorial service following the Duke’s death in August. Prince Charles and Camilla, and William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge represented the Royal Family, along with others.
At Chester Cathedral, the service was held to mark the life of Gerald Grosvenor, one of the richest and largest landowners in the UK.
Since Gerald was a close friend of the Royal Family, many Royals attended the service. Princess Eugenie was there, along with The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, who were joined by their daughter, Lady Rose Gilman for the service.
The Duke of Kent, Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra filled more seats in the cathedral.
Crowds had gathered outside the cathedral, to pay their respects to The Duke of Westminster who did so much for the city of Chester and the local area. Eaton Hall, the ancestral seat of the Grosvenors, sits in 11,000 acres just outside Chester.
The Westminster children, Lady Edwina, Lady Tamara, and now the Duke, Hugh, went to local day schools.
The late Duke died following a heart attack on his shooting estate in Lancashire on 9th August.
Lady Edwina Grosvenor, married to historian Dan Snow, gave a poem reading, entitled ‘A letter to my father’. Hugh, a godfather to Prince George of Cambridge, and read Rudyard Kipling’s poem, ‘If’ for his late father.
Photos with thanks to Paul Ratcliffe
