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YEREVAN, AUGUST 10, ARMENPRESS. Billionaire landowner and philanthropist the Duke of Westminster has died aged 64, his estate said.
Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor died at the Royal Preston Hospital in Lancashire on Tuesday after suddenly become ill on his Abbeystead Estate.
The duke's fortune was estimated at $10.8bn (£8.3bn) by Forbes magazine, making him the world's 68th richest person and the UK's third.
A friend of the Royal family, he became the sixth Duke of Westminster in 1979.
One of his four children, Hugh Grosvenor, the heir to the dukedom, is Prince George's youngest godfather.
Giving news of the duke's death, a spokeswoman said: "His family are all aware and they ask for privacy and understanding at this very difficult time.
"No further comment will be made for the time being but further information will follow in due course."
Among properties across the UK he owned 190 acres in Belgravia, an area near to Buckingham Palace, and one of London's most expensive districts.
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that Her Majesty the Queen is aware of the news about the Duke of Westminster.
"A private message of condolence is being sent by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh."
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are "deeply shocked and greatly saddened" by the sudden death of their friend the Duke of Westminster, a Clarence House spokeswoman added.
The Grosvenor family accrued much of their London wealth through the marriage of Sir Thomas Grosvenor to the heiress Mary Davies in 1677.
According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biographyshe brought Grosvenor "the estates which would become the cornerstone of the family's later wealth".
The estates were described as Ebury farm, east of Chelsea, and a large holding between Tyburn Brook and Park Lane in central London. Today these are part of the wealthy Belgravia and Mayfair districts.
Educated at Harrow School, the duke said "academic studies came very low down on the list of priorities...Games were very much my first priority". He later worked on ranches in Australia and Canada before serving an informal apprenticeship in property management.
He abandoned his dream of a career as a soldier in 1973 on becoming trustee of the Grosvenor Estate, but signed up to the Territorial Army and in 1994 was made an OBE for his work in the volunteer force.
In an appearance onBBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discsin 1995, the duke's favorite track was Albatross by Fleetwood Mac and his luxury item was a telescope.
The duke credited himself with using his wealth responsibly and gave financial support to both rural and inner-city areas with links to his estate.