Prince George’s 25-year-old godfather has become Britain’s third richest man after inheriting his late father’s £9 billion fortune – despite having two older sisters.
A centuries-old tradition means the Duke of Westminster’s only son Hugh Grosvenor will take on his father’s title and estate, including 100 acres of Mayfair and 200 acres of Belgravia, over his two eldest siblings.
Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor died yesterday afternoon aged 64 at the Royal Preston Hospital in Lancashire.
It is understood that he had a heart attack at Abbeystead House near Lancaster, his grouse shooting estate.
Lady Tamara, 36, will miss out on her family’s riches, due to the rule of primogeniture, because she is a female.
The new Duke has also leapfrogged 33-year-old Lady Edwina.
The rule, which dates back to the 11th-century, has been upheld despite a radical shake-up of the law of succession in 2013.
Princess Charlotte is now directly in line to the throne after big brother Prince George.
During the commons debate of the bill there was talk that the law could be changed further to include other titles so that daughters could inherit their father's estate.
Nick Clegg said at the time it was "not practical" to include such wide-sweeping changes and said the bill must be kept narrow so that it would be accepted by the other Commonwealth nations.
If there are no male heirs to which a title can pass, or if it cannot pass to a female in the line, it will then become extinct, according to peerage publishers, Debrett's.
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