Duke of Westminster, Archie and George’s godfather, plans to settle down into the farming life after UK’s ‘most eligible bachelor’ marries Olivia Henson in Chester Cathedral

The Duke of Westminster plans to live a farming life after his marriage, friends have revealed.

Hugh Grosvenor, 33, will marry the future Duchess Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral, Cheshire, in what is being dubbed the society wedding of the year next week.

Mr Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster, is close friends with both the Prince of Wales and… Prince Harry. He is godfather to Prince George and Harry’s son Archie and he is the king’s godson.

After the ceremony, where Prince William will be an usher, the couple plan to ‘lay the foundations for their future’ in Chester, where friends say the Duke will nurture his love of ‘nature, sustainability and farming’.

Friends told The Telegraph that the duke, dubbed Britain’s ‘most eligible bachelor’, has a ‘genuine love for the country’.

The duke, known to friends as ‘Hughie’, became one of Britain’s biggest landowners when he inherited an estimated £10.13 billion portfolio, which includes more than 1,500 properties in 60 countries, after his father died in 2016 died of a heart attack.

Hugh Grosvenor (left), 33, will marry the future Duchess Olivia Henson (right) at Chester Catheral, Cheshire, in what is being dubbed the society wedding of the year next week

After the ceremony, guests will be invited to the Duke’s sprawling Eaton Hall estate (pictured) in Cheshire

The Duke is also the chairman of the Country Trust, which encourages disadvantaged children to connect with ‘the land that sustains us all’ through visits to British farms, including the Duke’s Grosvenor Farms on his Easton Estate in Cheshire.

Around 400 wedding guests will head to the sprawling 11,000-acre estate after the wedding at Chester Cathedral next Friday.

Jill Attenborough, chief executive of the Country Trust, told The Telegraph that the duke is a ‘very authentic person’.

Ms Attenborough added: ‘He is really aware of his responsibility as the next generation of farmers and landowners and he is also trying to gently, and certainly not in any sort of pushy way, involve his ‘next generation’ network to to talk about whether they could also welcome children to their farms and estates and show them what they are doing for a more sustainable future.’

Guests, who have been given strict instructions not to give gifts, will descend on Chester next Friday.

Considering the Duke was named Britain’s richest person under 40 in the Sunday Times Rich List last month for the second year in a row, it’s likely to be a very exclusive and lavish affair.

Chester will be decorated with 100,000 flowers, paid for by the Duke, which will be donated to local charities after the ceremony, in keeping with the theme of sustainability.

The couple have made some public charity visits to Chester recently, with Miss Henson, the daughter of a banker, insisting they wanted to ‘put down roots’ in the North West.

‘Hughie’ is good friends with Prince William and Prince Harry, but the latter will not be present

Hugh Grosvenor (left), Duke of Westminster, Charlie van Straubenzee and Arthur Landon attend the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018

Mr Grosvenor’s ceremony will take place at Chester Cathedral (pictured)

“It’s clearly a place we’ll live,” the bride-to-be said. ‘We’re going to build our lives together and we’re slowly making the transition from London to being here much more permanently and really putting down roots.’

She said it was an “easy decision” for the couple, The Telegraph reports.

Among the guests is future king Prince William, 41, who will act as usher during the ceremony.

The Mail on Sunday has reported that in addition to his father, Prince George, the duke’s godson, will also play a prominent role in the wedding.

Hugh and William have long had a close friendship, so it is perhaps unsurprising that the Prince of Wales will play a leading role in the wedding.

The Princess of Wales is not expected to attend the wedding as she continues to recover from cancer.

However, apart from the royal father-of-three, the 400-strong guest list, like many of the details of the wedding, has been kept secret.

The Duke is clearly well-connected as the son of Gerald Grosvenor, who died in August 2016 when Hugh was just 15 years old.

In addition to Prince William, Hugh is also good friends with Prince Harry. But Harry and Meghan Markle will remain in the US while Prince Archie’s godfather ties the knot.

The wedding was announced by the Duke’s spokesman in April after the couple got engaged at Eaton Hall

Amid reports that the Prince of Wales will officiate the wedding, sources told the Mail on Sunday that Harry was left ‘left out’ by the decision as he had always considered himself closer to the Duke.

The source claimed: ‘William was asked to play a prominent role at the wedding and that was the reason Harry turned down an invitation. Apparently he [Harry] was turned off by the request when he thought it should have been him.”

Referring to the lack of public details about the occasion, the source added: ‘Both the Palace and Hugh’s people decided to put a high priority on the operational part of the wedding once the leak about Harry’s absence hit the papers.’

The presence of King Charles and Queen Camilla at the society wedding of the year has still not been confirmed.

The wedding was announced by the Duke’s spokesman in April after the couple got engaged at Eaton Hall.

A photo of the newly engaged couple was shared with a statement reading: “The Duke of Westminster and Miss Olivia Henson are delighted to announce that they are engaged.”

‘The couple, who have been together for two years, recently got engaged at the Duke family home at Eaton Hall in Cheshire.

‘Members of both their families are absolutely delighted by the news.

‘Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, is both Chairman of Grosvenor and Chairman of the Westminster Foundation.’

Mr Grosvenor succeeded his father to become Duke of Westminster in 2016, inheriting the title and estate when he died aged 64.