Lady Nicholas Windsor

Lady Nicholas Windsor
Born Dona Paola Doimi de Lupis de Frankopan
7 August 1969
London, England
Education St Paul's Girls' School
Religion Roman Catholicism
Spouse(s) Lord Nicholas Windsor
Children Albert Windsor (b.2007)
Leopold Windsor (b.2009)
Louis Windsor (b.2014)
Parent(s) Don Louis Doimi de Lupis de Frankopan
Dona Ingrid Detter de Frankopan

Lady Nicholas Windsor (née Paola Doimi de Lupis de Frankopan; born 7 August 1969) is the wife of Lord Nicholas Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.

Early life

Lady Nicholas Windsor was born as Paola Doimi de Lupis de Frankopan in London in 1969. Her father is Louis, Prince de Frankopan, Count Doimi de Lupis, born in Split in 1939, a member of the Croatian and the Italian nobility.[1] Paola Windsor'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.

She has one sister, Christina, and three brothers; Peter, Nicholas and Lawrence.

Education and career

Paola Windsor speaks seven languages, and was educated at St Paul's Girls' School and at Wycombe Abbey, where she was William Johnston Yapp Scholar. She read Classics at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge where she was a Choral Scholar and took a Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies (MPhil) at Paris IV, La Sorbonne in Philosophy, submitting a thesis on L'autorité de l'État in French.[2]

She writes under the name Paola Frankopan. She has, as Paola Frankopan, written for The Tatler, where she is a contributing editor, and for Vogue USA.[3] She has published an introduction to the history of the Sanctuary of Trsat 'Trsatska Sveta Kuća', in Croatian. 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 Šubić 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."[4]

Marriage and family

She met her future husband, Lord Nicholas Windsor, at a party in New York in 1999 to mark the Millennium[3] and their engagement was announced on 26 September 2006.[5] They married on 4 November 2006 in the Church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini in Vatican City following a civil ceremony on 19 October 2006 in a London register office[6] and she became Lady Nicholas Windsor. The bride wore a Valentino wedding gown.[7] This was the first time a member of the British Royal Family married at the Vatican.[8]

Lord and Lady Nicholas Windsor's first child, a son, Albert, was born on 22 September 2007, at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.[9][10] At birth Albert was 26th in the line of succession.[11][12] Albert was baptised as a Catholic in the Queen's Chapel at St James's Palace in London.

Lady Nicholas gave birth to their second child, Leopold Ernest Augustus Guelph,[13] on 8 September 2009 at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.[14] He was baptised by Cardinal Comastri in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

In late April 2014, it was announced that the couple is expecting their third child thus making Lady Nicholas the oldest royal mother at 45.[15] A third son, Louis Arthur Nicholas Felix Windsor was born 27 May 2014.

Lord Nicholas and his sons are also in the line of succession to the Kent Dukedom as well.

References

  1. ↑ Lupis Macedonio Palermo di Santa Margherita, Marco (2014). "Le Linee di Dalmazia e Fiume". La Casata dei Lupi (in Italian). Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Patrons: The Lady Nicholas Windsor, Paola Windsor". Home Renaissance Foundation. 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 de Frankopan, Paola (28 April 2011). "My Royal Wedding: Paola de Frankopan Remembers Her Own Marriage into the British Royal Family". Vogue. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Naughton, Philippe. "Unknown". The Times. London. Retrieved 21 July 2014. (Subscription required)
  5. ↑ "Announcement of the engagement of Lord Nicholas Windsor". Buckingham Palace. 26 September 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Theroff, Paul (28 October 2006). "Royal News of 2006, Section I". Royal Genealogy Site. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Wedding Wednesday: Valentino Gowns". The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor. 22 August 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Royal wedding at the Vatican". Independent Catholic News. 31 October 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  9. ↑ Kay, Richard (3 October 2007). "Paola's a new royal mum". London: The Daily Mail.
  10. ↑ Theroff, Paul (8 March 2007). "Royal News of 2007, Section I". Royal Genealogy Site. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  11. ↑ Hoyle, Antonia; Nicholl, Katie (16 December 2007). "A public debut for baby Albert - 26th in line to the Throne". Mail Online. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  12. ↑ He never lost his place in the line of succession at the time of his baptism. Due to the Act of Settlement, in fact, the Duke of Kent is still in line to the throne since the Duchess of Kent was a Protestant when he married her. The subsequent conversion of his wife did not affect his place in the line of succession. The Act of Settlement merely bars anyone who marries a Catholic from the line of succession.
  13. ↑ Leistra, Netty (2014). "Births and christenings in reigning and non-reigning royal houses of the year 2009". Netty Royal. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  14. ↑ "A Windsor tot". Mail Online. 11 September 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  15. ↑ Shakespeare, Sebastian (29 April 2014). "It's a miracle! The oldest ever royal mother-to-be due to give birth at 45". Daily Mail. Retrieved 1 May 2014.

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