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The vibe around this whole Hugh Grosvenor story is very strange. It’s possible that Hugh, the Duke of Westminster and the inheritor of a $10 billion fortune, would willingly involve himself in the Windsors’ increasingly clownish PR. It’s possible that Hugh decided, on his own, to exclude the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from an invitation to his June 2024 wedding and then chose to announce the snub to a royal reporter. But this whole thing absolutely has the feel of Prince William overstepping across the board – that William threw a tantrum to Hugh about snubbing the Sussexes, then William leaked the news to the Sunday Times as a way to box in the Grosvenor family and use their name for his own bullsh-t. If I was in Hugh’s place, I would find William’s actions and behavior really tacky, inappropriate and gauche. But that’s just me. According to the Telegraph, Hugh is very mad that Prince Harry would be so mean to the Windsors. Mmhm.
The wedding snub: Harry and Meghan, meanwhile, have allegedly been excluded from Hugh’s wedding guest list to avoid a family clash in the House of Windsor (after all, what bride wants a royal feud to upstage her big day?). But it is quite a snub and illustrates just how distant Harry now is from the world that he was brought up in. He and Hugh know each other very well – in 2015 the pair travelled together in South Africa with the aim of fighting rhino poaching – and this lack of an invitation is likely to be a nail in the coffin of an important friendship.
The consequences: But it seems that Harry is once again discovering how bad-mouthing the Royal family in public can have consequences on relationships beyond just those within his family. The Grosvenor ties to the royals are entrenched: while Hugh is King Charles’s godson; he in turn was made godfather to Prince George when he was born and later to Prince Archie.
Hugh and his fiance: The couple themselves are said to have met through friends and the King and Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales are firmly on the invitation list for their June wedding – and there is a good chance all of them will attend (Charles is likely to be in the country as the following weekend is the Trooping the Colour).
Hugh’s loyalty: “You have to remember that people like this are very traditional – and while they wouldn’t be at all bothered by a drunken uncle or some overt snogging on the dance floor, they don’t like it when people criticise their way of life in public, which is exactly what Harry and Meghan have been doing for the last few years,” says a source who knows the Grosvenors. “And given who he is, Hugh’s loyalty would always have to be to the current King and the future King.”
Do these people think the Sussexes would have displayed a wedding invitation?? The absence of a stiff white invitation to prop up on a Montecito mantelpiece will sting even more when it becomes clear that the Waleses might play a major role in the day itself. William is apparently in the running to be best man (a role he last took on in public at Harry’s wedding) while Prince George, as one of Hugh’s godsons, is likely to be a pageboy. Given Hugh is thought to be the only friend of William and Harry’s chosen to be a godparent by both, this could fan even more flames over in California.
Hugh likes to keep it low-key?? As for the couple themselves – they are unusually low-key given their wealth and connections, as evidenced by the fact that only one engagement photograph of them was released in which they are wearing very casual clothes. “They are very, very private,” says a high-society contact. “Nobody has any good gossip on them.”
Meghan would have disapproved! …The day itself will probably follow the rhythms of a classic upper-crust English country wedding, rather than anything billionaire-like: men in morning suits and women in pretty florals with hats, children as bridesmaids rather than adults, and a service filled with hymns and carefully chosen readings. Speeches at dinner will likely be dominated by men (something Meghan would possibly disapprove of) while the rule of thumb when it comes to the music will probably be: the cheesier the better. When all is said and done, though, the fact that Harry and Meghan won’t be strutting their stuff to Sweet Caroline and Come on Eileen is incredibly sad. Given how deep the links are between the two families, it is an outcome neither side would have wanted.
[From The Telegraph]
The ghastly pattern is familiar to all of the royal-watchers – someone in the UK will make a big deal about snubbing Harry and Meghan from a hat party or biscuit tournament, then there are days of stories where sources insist that the snub must sting the Sussexes, that they must be beside themselves with misery, but that’s what they get for pointing out that the Windsors are racist and sadistic morons. Again, what’s fascinating about this particular cycle is that the royals have roped in one of the richest and most powerful men in the country. They’re using a billionaire’s name in their petty little drama. As I said, it’s possible that Hugh Grosvenor genuinely feels this way – but if he’s so humble, low-key and no-drama, why would he willingly take part in this despicable royal soap opera?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.
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