| Lady Nicholas Windsor | |
|---|---|
| Born | London, England |
| Other names | Paola Doimi de Lupis Frankopan |
| Spouse | Lord Nicholas Windsor |
| Children | Albert Windsor (2007–) Leopold Windsor, (2009–) |
| Parents | Louis Doimi de Lupis Frankopan Ingrid Detter de Frankopan |
Lady Nicholas Windsor (born Countess Paola Doimi de Lupis Frankopan; born 7 August 1969) is the wife of Lord Nicholas Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.
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In 2006 The Times published an article suggesting that the family had added Frankopan to their surname under British Civil law but later published a retraction and a clarification. The Times corrected the article, stating:
"Since 2006 a judgment of the Italian courts has confirmed the genealogical entitlement and the right of all members of the Frankopan family to make use of the titles Princes Frankopan Frangipane Subić and Counts Doimi de Lupis, even if, for political reasons, they did not always use them. The Frankopan family did not change its name under UK law as stated above." [1]
In 1991, both of Paola's parents were appointed official spokespersons for the Croatian Government. Immediately after the end of the Croatian War of Independence, Paola's father, Prince Louis Frankopan founded the Croatian Nobility Association, a private non-governmental organisation, but after internal disagreements, he resigned from the Association. Paola's brother, Peter, Senior Fellow of Worcester College at Oxford University and Director of the University's Centre for Byzantine Studies, says that the "title (of the family) is not any claim on anything. It is just a reflection of the age of the family".[1] He says that his family split from other branches of the Frankopan family in the 14th century. Doimo III Frangipani or Frankopan, (+ 1348), Prince of Veglia, married Elisabetta Subich, daughter of Jakab, Prince of Bribir (+ post 1347); see [2]
Paola Doimi de Lupis Frankopan was born in London in 1969. Her father is Prince Louis de Frankopan, Count Doimi de Lupis, born in Split in 1939, a member of the Croatian and the Italian nobility.[3] Paola's father came to England from Croatia after the Second World War to attend a boarding school and then go to Oxford University. Her father is a Barrister, and a member of Middle Temple and a businessman. Her mother, Ingrid Detter, is a distinguished Professor Emeritus at Stockholm University, sometime Fellow of LMH and of St. Antony's College, Oxford and sometime Advisor on International Law to HH John Paul II, professor of international law, double doctor, D.Phil. (Oxon), Jur.Dr.(Stockholm), Lic. en droit (Paris) and Dipl. Diritto Europeo (Turin), Barrister at Lincoln's Inn. [4] [5]
She has one sister, Christina, and three brothers; Peter, Nicholas and Lawrence, Princes Frankopan, Counts Doimi de Lupis.
Lady Nicholas' sister Christina is an investment banker, [6] who is married to Patrick Nicholson, Head of Communications for Caritas Internationalis in the Vatican. [7]
Paola's eldest brother Peter, D.Phil. (Oxon); M.Phil. (Oxon); M.A. (Cantab), is a historian and author of 'The First Crusade'. [8] He is Director of Oxford University's Centre for Byzantine Research. He is a University Lecturer at the Faculty of Modern Languages and Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford University. [9] He is a Governor of Wellington College [10] and trustee of the World Monuments Fund. [11] Together with his wife, he founded Cambridge University's Frankopan Directorship for Gender Studies. [12]
The second brother, Nicholas, M.A. (Oxon); M.Phil. (Cantab); MBA (Columbia), is an investment banker in London.
Her youngest brother, Lawrence, is Head of Lagardère UK. [13]
Lady Nicholas Windsor speaks seven languages fluently, and was educated at St Paul's Girls' School and at Wycombe Abbey, where she was William Johnston Yapp Scholar. She read Classics at Cambridge University where she was a Choral Scholar and took a Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondis (MPhil) at Paris IV, La Sorbonne in Philosophy, submitting a thesis on L'autorité de l'Etat in French. [14]
She has, as Paola Frankopan, written for The Tatler where she is a contributing editor and for Vogue USA [15] She has published and introduction to the history of the Sanctuary of Trsat 'Trsatska Sveta Kuča', in Croatian.
Paola Frankopan met her future husband at a party in New York in 1999 to mark the Millenium[15] and their engagement was announced on 26 September 2006.[16] They married on 4 November 2006 in the Church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini in the Vatican following a civil ceremony on 19 October 2006 in a London register office[17] and she became Lady Nicholas Windsor. This was the first time a member of the British Royal Family married at the Vatican.[18]
Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor's first child, a son, Albert, on 22 September 2007, was born at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.[19][20] Albert and any further children the couple has will not be titled, will only carry the Windsor surname, the first for a direct male line descendant of George V. At birth Albert was 26th in the line of succession.[21][22] Lord Nicholas and his sons are also in the line of succession to the Kent Dukedom as well.
Lady Nicholas gave birth to their second child, Leopold Ernest Augustus Guelph,[23] on 8 September 2009 at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.[24] On 11 September 2009 article from a British tabloid mentions the birth of an unnamed second child, but no name is provided. The child's name is listed on an Italian-language website.[25]
The elder son, Albert or Bertie, was baptised as a Catholic in the Queen's Chapel in St. James's Palace and his younger brother Leopold, was baptised by Cardinal Comastri in St Peter's in the Vatican.