For the first time people can hear the new Duke of Westminster speaking in a short film promoting a national rehabilitation centre for injured soldiers backed by his late father to the tune of £70m.

The seventh Duke of Westminster Hugh Grosvenor, 27, talks proudly of his father Gerald’s legacy because the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC) at Loughborough was his brainchild.

And the voice of the sixth Duke of Westminster, who rose to the rank of Major General with the Territorial Army, can also be heard in this poignant video.

The seventh Duke of Westminster and his late father, the sixth duke, feature in a short film promoting a national rehabilitation centre for injured soldiers in Loughborough that will open in 2018. The late duke, who spent 40 years in the Territorial Army, donated £70m towards the project.

The late duke, who lived at Eaton Hall near Chester but died in August 2016, fulfilled his dream of establishing the centre after buying Stanford Hall stately home in Leicestershire for that purpose in 2011.

And the facility, due to open later this year, will replace the outdated Headley Court in Surrey, which has treated injured military personnel since 1947.

The young duke, who was a guest at the royal wedding at the weekend, says in the film produced by Grosvenor: “My father spent over 40 years in the Territorial Army. He really started to see the impact that modern warfare had on our servicemen and women. He wanted to help, he knew he could help.”

The seventh Duke of Westminster and his late father, the sixth duke, feature in a short film promoting a national rehabilitation centre for injured soldiers in Loughborough that will open in 2018. The late duke, who spent 40 years in the Territorial Army, donated £70m towards the project.

And it’s hoped the DNRC may eventually take civilian patients too, creating a model to improve the treatment of trauma within the NHS as well as the military.

The duke continued: “For the first time ever we have got the ability to have the sharing of knowledge between the defence facility and the national facility, which will be one of a kind. We have got the opportunity here to get people back to work who have suffered horrific injuries.

“The impact that will have is huge but then also the knock-on impact that has on society as a whole.”

He added: “It’s really encouraging to see that so many people have got behind the DNRC.”

Set in more than 350 acres of grounds, the centre will be much larger than Headley Court but will treat a similar number of patients – about 200 servicemen and women at any one time.

The Ministry of Defence , individuals, charitable foundations and companies, both in the UK and overseas, have all contributed towards the project.

The seventh Duke of Westminster and his late father, the sixth duke, feature in a short film promoting a national rehabilitation centre for injured soldiers in Loughborough that will open in 2018. The late duke, who spent 40 years in the Territorial Army, donated £70m towards the project.

The voice of late duke, who donated £70m, can be heard explaining his vision in the film which has been shared widely on social media.

“I wanted somewhere where young men and women could drive up the drive and say 'Wow, someone is actually going to look after me'. Look at this facility, it’s the best that money can buy and from that moment on, the healing process starts.”

A military man to his bones, the late duke joined the TA as a trooper more than 40 years ago and rose to the rank of Major General with the Territorial Army.

In 2012 he retired as head of the Army’s reserve forces after helping to deliver the recommendations of a review into the future of Britain’s reserve forces.