Fresh anguish fell on the Duke of Kent as his son, Lord Nicholas Windsor, is reported to have separated from his wife, Paola Frankopan, after 19 years of marriage. The development unfolded against the backdrop of the duke’s attendance at Westminster Cathedral for the funeral of the Duchess of Kent on Tuesday, where King Charles III and the Prince and Princess of Wales were visible among a slate of senior royals.
Paola was conspicuously absent at Westminster Cathedral, according to the Daily Mail, which noted that she and Nicholas have been separated for some time. The Daily Mail understands Paola, 56, has parted ways with Nicholas, 55, the younger son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. The duchy’s 89-year-old patriarch remains publicly stoic as he navigates a period of personal strain while continuing to honor his public duties.
The duchy’s long arc of royal service continues to echo through Westminster as the royal family’s senior figures gather for the Duchess of Kent’s funeral. The deceased duchess, who died earlier this month at age 92, was the mother of Lord Nicholas and the wife of the late Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. In the run-up to today’s service, King Charles III and the Prince and Princess of Wales attended in a show of unity with other royals who have long carried the weight of public interest in the family.
Lord Nicholas Windsor, 55, who is a godson of the King, and Paola Frankopan, 56, a member of Croatian and Italian nobility, were married in 2006 in a ceremony in Vatican City that was the first Roman Catholic royal wedding since the reign of Queen Mary I and the first to be held in the Vatican. The couple, who have three sons—Albert, Leopold and Louis—have long been considered among the more private branches of the royal family, with Paola often living away from the public eye.
A close friend of the family told the Daily Mail that the couple have been separated for some time and that, despite their Catholic faith and conservative dispositions, they are unlikely to divorce. “It’s very sad, but the couple have been separated for some time,” the confidant said. “They no longer attend family events together. Both are very conservative and dislike divorce, so apparently they will never actually get divorced.”
The Windsor pair’s life together has been a matter of public curiosity since their 2006 Vatican wedding, which drew international attention for its historic significance. Albert, their eldest son, was baptized Catholic in a ceremony hailed by supporters of royal traditions as a symbol of the church’s ongoing role within the monarchy. An Early Day Motion in the House of Commons welcomed Albert’s baptism as the first time a royal child had been baptized Catholic since 1688, marking a milestone in the evolution of royal religious life.
Lord Nicholas Windsor’s life has included moments of public scrutiny. He moved from Westminster public school to Harrow after being bullied, and he has acknowledged a past cannabis incident in St James’s Park that resulted in a caution. He later left formal university education to travel in Africa. In a rare public turn, he converted to Roman Catholicism, following in his mother’s faith and forfeiting his place in the line of succession. His 2010 article in the American journal First Things drew controversy, in which he argued abortion posed a greater threat to Europe than Islamic terrorism and called for a new abolitionism to confront what he described as a “grave moral deficit.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment on the couple’s separation. The family’s private reflections come at a time when public interest in their lives remains high, underscoring the tension between long-standing royal traditions and the evolving personal narratives that unfold within one of the world’s most scrutinized families. The bride’s parents, Prince Louis and Princess Ingrid, are noted for their Croatian castle and a home in Kensington, symbolizing the cosmopolitan reach of the Windsor lineage and its connections across Europe.
As the Duchess of Kent’s funeral drew to a close, the broader royal family was left to balance their ceremonial obligations with the complex, evolving stories that accompany a life lived in the glare of public attention. While the dignitaries’ attendance signaled continuity, the apparent separation within the Windsor circle signals that private trials remain a enduring feature of a family whose history is as much about tradition as it is about adapting to changing times.