Thus Hugh Grosvenor faces climate change

The British aristocracy has members where the lineage and financial power are intertwined as the branches of an old oak: the seventh Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, He walks through his kingdom with the air of a Renaissance landowner, although armed this time not with a catalejo, but with laser technology and scientific alliances. This young man inherited a fortune of 9,500 million pounds sterling in 2016 (about 11.4 billion euros) after the death of his father and now (his fortune has increased to 14,000 million euros) has decided to observe his vast properties from the air with The precision of a surgeon, not to measure wealth, but to scrutinize the pulse of nature that governs under its flag. The Duke of Westminster is a man shaped by an ancient tradition, but also because of the need to adapt to the new paradigms. In his hands, the wealth of centuries seems to look for a purpose beyond the walls of Belgravia or the pastures of the highlands. Perhaps, in the end, Hugh Grosvenor is not only the custodian of a historical heritage, but also the architect of a future in which ecosystems, such as noble surnames, are preserved for coming generations.

Hugh Grosvenor has (among other properties distributed throughout the world, including Spain) more than 50,000 hectares of land in the north of England and Scottish highlands, where fog seems to belong as much as the fields. However, in a gesture reminiscent of those enlightened nobles who wanted to leave more than resonant surnames, the Duke has begun an ambitious environmental study. With airplanes equipped with lasers and the support of the John Moores University of Liverpool, he is performing a thorough radiography of his domains. The purpose is none other than understanding the state of biodiversity and natural capital under its care. “We are in a privileged position to perform this deep analysis of nature”, He has declared Jo Holden, an employee of the billionaire, director of sustainability of Rural Grosvenor Estaes. The phrase might seem one of those calculated statements that adorn the annual reports of the great fortunes, but in this case it has an air of authenticity. In times where the words “biodiversity” and “carbon emissions” have become common currency, what the Duke is doing has an unusual weight: it is the first private that collaborates at this scale with a university for an environmental study.

While the rural landscape undergoes an ecological cartography, In the heart of London, the power of the Duke extends through the elegant streets of Mayfair and Belgravia, Where the white facades of their buildings look discreetly at passersby. There, it has half of the district, including Jewels such as the American embassy and the prestigious Gagosian Gallery. However, he recently sold 25% of his real estate assets to a sovereign fund in Norway, a gesture that, for some, represents a strategic movement on his vast financial board. Hugh Grosvenor, despite his fortune and his lineage, seems to be walking on a tense rope between tradition and the modern world. This 33 -year -old, whose education chistered him in Eton And in the refined Oxford classrooms, not only perpetuates a legacy of earthly power, but it accommodates it to the demands of the 21st century, where even the dukes must account for sustainability and public scrutiny.

Last June, the Duke of Westminster added a new chapter to the chronicle of his life with a wedding that could have left a Victorian story. In Chester’s Cathedral, under Gothic arches that seemed to sigh with the echoes of the centuries, Hugh married Olivia Henson, a woman whose serene elegance seems to have brought a breath of humanity to her noble title. The ceremony, which was attended by the Prince of Wales, was held among close friends and figures of high society, and concluded with a banquet in Eaton Hall, the ancestral residence of the Grosvenor. Among the guests highlighted princesses, entrepreneurs and those surnames that float in history as leaves in a quiet water pond. There, the couple offered a lemon cake to their diners, a gesture that could be read as a wink to the sweetness contained in their union. Since then, Olivia and Hugh have set their gaze on Chester, a place where they have promised “throw roots.” In their first public appearances such as Duke and Duchess, they have been seen visiting beneficial schools and organizations backed by the Westminster Foundation, carrying with them an image of sober accessibility that contrasts with the magnitude of their fortune.

There is a classic theater air in this story: a young aristocrat, heir to a colossal fortune, who decides to redeem his power through a commitment to the land that sustains it. However, as in every drama, the background is more complex. Is this environmental effort an authentic vocation or a public relations strategy that seeks to align the image of the aristocracy with the demands of the contemporary world? What meaning does it mean to sell a fraction of the historic family heritage to a Norwegian sovereign background? The answers, such as the flight of laser airplanes on their lands, are suspended in the air. For now, the young billionaire and ecologist Duke continues his path, alternating between the luxuries of Mayfair and the wild forests of Scotland, while the story observes, in silence, if his laser flight draws the beginning of a new era or is lost, as So many others, in the fog of time.