How Britain’s wedding of the year turned into a quiet tabloid war for Prince William and Prince Harry

It was the high society wedding of the year, bringing together 400 members of the British aristocracy to witness the union of one of the kingdom’s richest men and his bride.

The Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, married his partner, businesswoman Olivia Henson, in a lavish ceremony in England’s north west on June 7.

Once billed as Britain’s most “eligible bachelor”, the 33-year-old duke is worth $18 billion, thanks to his powerful family’s astounding real estate portfolio.

The Grosvenor family’s ties to the royal family trace back generations, and the current Duke of Westminster has forged strong connections to the Windsors.

King Charles is his godfather.

He is also very close friends with Princes William and Harry — so much so they asked the duke to be godfather to their sons George and Archie.

But whether you’re getting married in a simple backyard ceremony, or on your family’s sprawling 11,000-acre estate, guest list drama comes for us all.

And for the duke and his newly-minted duchess, their wedding day stress involved two warring brothers and a lot of tabloid sniping.

While Prince William attended the ceremony, acting as an usher for guests arriving at Chester Cathedral, Prince Harry was not present.

It’s no secret that there is trouble in the House of Windsor.

Since Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, “stepped back” as working royals in 2020, the spare’s

“I love William to bits. We’ve been through hell together and we have a shared experience, but we are on different paths,” Harry said in 2021.

“The relationship is [full of] space at the moment and time heals all things, hopefully.”

In the weeks leading up to the wedding, both William and Harry’s camps have been backgrounding the press.

Sources close to William told the UK Times that the duke left Harry off the guest list because he was keen “to avoid anything overshadowing the day, especially for Olivia, and doesn’t want any awkwardness”.

But then sources close to Harry told Page Six he and Meghan were, in fact, invited, but rang the duke to explain they thought it best they didn’t attend.

“We’ve actually long been at the point where they can’t be in the same room together,” said royal commentator Afua Hagan.

“Which is pretty sad, to be honest.”

Royals rarely fight in public, which makes it difficult to know exactly what’s happening inside the House of Windsor.

But these leaks from so-called “friends” and “palace insiders” are almost always an attempt by rival courts — if not the royals themselves — to control the narrative.

The Duke and Duchess of Westminster are now married, free to enjoy their untold riches and vast swathes of prime British land.

But the rampant speculation about the two biggest stars on their guest list suggests William and Harry remain deeply divided.

As heir to the throne, William shows no sign of reconciling with his brother — or calling a ceasefire on their cold tabloid war — before he becomes king.

Their inherited wealth dates back centuries to the lucrative marriage of Sir Thomas Grosvenor and Mary Davies in 1677.

The young heiress’ vast fortune included various estates, and parcels of land that are now home to some of the most expensive real estate in London, including Mayfair and Belgravia.

These sprawling land holdings were passed down the family line and, as property prices have skyrocketed in recent decades, so has the Grosvenor’s wealth.

By the time little Hugh came along in 1991, the family were on their way to achieving billionaire status.

As the only male heir of Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor and Natalie Grosvenor’s four children, he automatically became next in line to one of the biggest fortunes in Britain.

A centuries-old English law dictates that only sons — not daughters — can inherit their family’s seat and wealth upon the passing of a relative.

But Gerald Cavendish saw his son’s immense privilege as both a blessing and a challenge.

“He’s been born with the longest silver spoon anyone can have, but he can’t go through life sucking on it. He has to put back what he has been given,” Gerald Grosvenor said of his son in 1993.