| The Dowager Duchess of Westminster | |
| Honorific Prefix: | Her Grace |
| Birth Name: | Natalia Ayesha Phillips |
| Birth Date: | 8 May 1959 |
| Birth Place: | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Children: |
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| Mother: | Georgina Wernher |
| Father: | Harold Phillips |
Natalia Ayesha Grosvenor, Dowager Duchess of Westminster (née Phillips; born 8 May 1959), is a British aristocrat, philanthropist and winemaker. She is the widow of the 6th Duke of Westminster and mother of the 7th Duke. As of 2024, the Duchess's family, specifically her son, were 11th on the Sunday Times Rich List with a net worth of £10.127 billion.[1]
Born Natalia Ayesha Phillips, she is the youngest daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Harold "Bunnie" Phillips and Georgina "Gina" Wernher.[2] Her paternal grandparents were Colonel Joseph Phillips and Mary Bryce, daughter of John Pablo Bryce. Her maternal grandparents were Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Bt, and Countess Anastasia de Torby, morganatic daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia. Tally, as she is known to friends and family, had an older brother, Nicholas (1947–1991), and three older sisters, including Marita Knight and the late Alexandra Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn.[3] She and her siblings are direct descendants of poet Alexander Pushkin and Afro-Russian engineer Abram Gannibal.[4]
The Duchess supports many charitable endeavours in Cheshire and across the United Kingdom, these include the Alex Moulton Charitable Trust and the Hospice of the Good Shepherd.[5] [6] [7]
The Duchess is godmother of William, Prince of Wales; in turn, Diana, Princess of Wales, was godmother of her daughter, Lady Edwina, and her son, Hugh, the current Duke of Westminster, is the godson of Charles III and godfather to Prince George of Wales and Prince Archie of Sussex.[8] [9]
The Duchess owns a vineyard in Portofino called "La Cappelletta" where she produces Vermentino della Cappelletta, a Ligurian Vermentino.[10] [11] [12]
Natalia met Gerald Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, at a ball at Blenheim Palace in 1977.[13] When Natalia's maternal grandmother heard she was being courted by the heir to the dukedom of Westminster, she told her "Don't let him go. Don't let him go, you must come down and bring him to lunch".[3]
They married the next year at St Mary's Church, Luton, near her family seat, Luton Hoo, on 17 October 1978. Natalia wore a gown designed by Sarah Butler and an antique diamond and spinel tiara which Grosvenor had bought for her that had belonged to Princess Catherine Bagration.[13] Notable guests at the wedding included Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and Lord Mountbatten, whose granddaughter, India Hicks, was a bridesmaid. Upon marriage, Natalia was styled as Countess Grosvenor.
Four months later, Grosvenor's father died and he became the 6th Duke of Westminster, thus making Natalia the Duchess of Westminster. They had four children and six grandchildren:
1956 - 1978: Miss Natalia Phillips
1978 - 1979: Countess Grosvenor
1979 - 2024: Her Grace The Duchess of Westminster
2024 - present: Her Grace The Dowager Duchess of Westminster