On April 29, 2011, Kate Middleton walked down the aisle into the arms of Britain’s most eligible bachelor, Prince William.
Now, 13 years later, Olivia Henson is following in her footsteps, having landed the country’s wealthiest heartthrob, Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster.
The parallels between the two women are quite extraordinary to the point where Olivia, 31, has been compared to a young version of the Princess of Wales, who is 12 years her senior.
Both women grew up with two siblings a brother and a sister in the Home Counties.
Both attended the exclusive public school Marlborough, wherefees are currently 15,665 a term. And Olivia’s lineage is even more aristocratic than Kate’s too.
The 7th Duke of Westminster with his fiance, Olivia Benson, who will become the Duchess of Westminster on her wedding day
Kate walked out of Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 as the new Duchess of Cambridge
While Kate, 42, became the Duchess of Cambridgeon her marriage to William, Olivia will become the next Duchess of Westminster on Friday.
And, while Kate’s wedding to William was the hottest ticket in the world, Olivia’s ceremony, at Chester Cathedral, will be the society wedding of the decade.
The pews of Chester Cathedral will be – like Westminster Abbey was 13 years ago – crammed with royals and aristocrats.
Prince William will be an usher at the ceremony and his son Prince George, who is the Duke’s godson, is expected to be a pageboy.
The King – Hugh’s godfather – has been invited but cannot be there because of his ongoing cancer treatment and the fact that he will be in Normandy the day before the ceremony to lead commemorations at the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
And although Grosvenor is also close to Prince Harry – he is godfather to his son Archie – the Duke of Sussex will not be attending amid his deep rift with his brother William.
Prince William and Kate Middleton shortly after he proposed in Kenya
Olivia seems to be cut from Kate’s home counties mould. She loves visiting all the Chester charities supported by the Westminster Foundation
Catherine, Princess of Wales with Prince William during their visit to SportsAid at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre to mark World Mental Health Day on October 2023
Regardless of which royals will be there, comparisons between Olivia and the Princess of Wales have been inevitable since the Duke and his fiance announced their engagement on April 23 last year.
Even their family history is not dissimilar. Although much is made of Kate’s mining ancestors, her mother Carole is actually related to the aristocratic Bowes-Lyons, the family of the late Queen Mother.
And she and William are both descended from 17th century nobleman Sir William Blakiston of Gibside Hall and his wife Jane.
In fact, she and William are 12th cousins once removed though the Blakiston lineage.
Olivia too has aristocratic pedigree as well as Royal connections: she is the elder daughter of Rupert Henson and his wife Caroline, who is a scion of the Hoare banking family and the Marquess of Bristol.
And Caroline’s twin sister Angela is married to Charles Gordon, who is the Grand Master of Scottish freemasons and Scotland’s senior freemason.
Olivia is also descended from John Manners, the 5th Duke of Rutland, and is a distant cousin of the Manners sisters Lady Violet, Lady Alice and Lady Eliza.
Kate grew up in the Berkshire villages of Bradfield Southend and Bucklebury, while Olivia was raised 30 miles away in the village of Longworth, in the Vale of the White Horse.
Kate’s sister Pippa, 40, became known as her ‘Royal Hotness’ after the royal wedding and is now a mother-of-three.
Her brother James, 37, and his wife Alize share son Inigo, seven months.
Both women have two siblings and were raised in the home counties. Above: Kate’s parents Carole and Michael with her younger siblings Pippa and James
Catherine, Princess of Wales attended Marlborough, as did the soon to be Duchess of Westminster, Olivia Henson. Above: Kate playing hockey at Marlborough in the year 2000
Olivia followed Kate to Marlborough and was a contemporary of Princess Eugenie
Olivia’s brother Jasper, 29, works in asset management for a property company, and her sister Emilia, 26, is a brand relationships manager at the beauty box company Latest In Beauty.
Kate was educated at St Andrew’s School in Berkshire before going to Marlborough.
She then graduated with a 2:1 in history of art at Scotland’s University of St Andrews, where she met William.
Meanwhile, Olivia’s education began at the private Dragon School in Oxford, alongside Emma Watson.
She then followed Kate to Marlborough, where she was a contemporary of Princess Eugenie.
She graduated with a 2:1 in Hispanic studies and Italian from Trinity College, Dublin,
But while Kate is now the Princess of Wales, juggling chemotherapy with being a mother to her three children George, ten, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six, Olivia is still working.
She is a senior account manager for the ethical food company Belazu, which sources ‘loved and trusted chef-grade ingredients’ from the Middle East and Mediterranean ‘for chefs, food lovers and, friends’.
However, her life will change the moment that she has a ring on her finger.
She and the Duke plan to move to Cheshire after their wedding and no doubt we will soon hear the patter of tiny feet.
