Before the Duke of Westminster's wedding, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were notably absent, Hugh Grosvenor was known to be Prince George's godfather.
Hugh Grosvenor, however, did not invite Harry and Meghan to his wedding. Their absence was due to concerns that their presence might overshadow the event. The focus was intended to be on the bride and groom, not on Meghan's outfit or actions. Past incidents, such as Meghan announcing her pregnancy at someone else's wedding or making sure fans noticed her at the Platinum Jubilee, have raised such concerns.
Megan has been pushing the narrative that Grosvenor, who is extremely wealthy, is Archie's godfather. However, a simple search reveals that prior to this wedding, Meghan had already disclosed the names of Archie's godparents to Vanity Fair: Mark Dyer, Tiggy Pettifer, and Charlie van Straubenzee. Vanity Fair speculated that the remaining godparents were Meghan's friends, Lindsay Roth and Genevieve Hills. Articles from The List and Town and Country also do not mention Hugh Grosvenor as one of Archie's godparents.
Despite the recent wedding snub, Meghan's PR machine now claims Hugh is one of Archie's godparents. The Times mentioned Hugh Grosvenor as a godparent for the first time in December 2023, raising questions about the accuracy of Meghan's claims. It appears she might be leveraging Grosvenor's wealth and status in a PR strategy, but repeating the claim does not necessarily make it true. Harry seems to be influenced by this persistent PR pressure.
The Prince of Wales is set to be an usher at the wedding of Hugh Grosvenor and Olivia Henson at Chester Cathedral on June 7th. There is also hope that Prince George may have a role, depending on his availability and the Princess of Wales's schedule, as the children prefer not to be far from her. A source recently claimed that Catherine's name has not yet been formally removed from the guest list, which was put together last year, long before she became aware of her illness. However, the source warned that her name remaining on the list does not guarantee her attendance. William and Kate are both on the guest list and have not declined the invitation, possibly because they have spoken informally a lot. The situation with the Wales family is still up in the air.
Catherine is well-known for politely declining wedding invitations where possible to avoid upstaging the bride. Sources claim that by giving William a prominent role in the event, Prince Harry felt sidelined and thus declined the invitation. William being asked to take up a leading role at the wedding was the final nail in the coffin, according to a source who spoke to Express.co.uk. Harry was very close to Hugh growing up, so everyone thought he would have taken up a leading role, not William.
A close friend of Grosvenor revealed the reaction of the seventh Duke of Westminster over William and Harry's rift, saying it is incredibly sad it has come to this. Grosvenor is one of the very few close friends of both William and Harry who has maintained strong bonds with both. According to a report by Marie Claire, this friend further claimed that Grosvenor wishes the brothers could reconcile, though he realizes that such a scenario is unlikely. He wanted to avoid anything overshadowing the day, especially for Olivia, and does not want any awkwardness.
