“It’s Over” Heartbreak in the Royal Family: Lord Nicholas Windsor Ends 19-Year Marriage – Mystery Surrounds Wife’s Absence at Duchess of Kent’s Funeral

Lord Nicholas Windsor has reportedly split from his wife.

On Sept. 17, the Daily Mail reported that Lord Nicholas, 55, and his wife, Paola Frankopan, have separated. The couple wed in 2006 and share three sons named Albert, Leopold and Louis.

“It’s very sad, but the couple have been separated for some time,” a family friend told the outlet.

“They no longer attend family events together. Both are very conservative and dislike divorce, so apparently they will never actually get divorced,” they said.

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Lord Nicholas, 55, is the youngest son of Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, and the late Katharine, Duchess of Kent, who died at age 92 on Sept. 4 at Kensington Palace.

The distance between Nicholas and Paola, who is also known as Lady Nicholas Windsor, was in view at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral, as Paola reportedly did not attend.

On Sept. 16, Katharine was laid to rest in a historic Catholic funeral at Westminster Cathedral, but Lord Nicholas was there without his wife.

The Daily Mail and Hello! magazine reported that she was absent from the event attended by guests including King Charles, Prince William, Kate Middleton and other members of the royal family.

The Duchess of Kent’s funeral arrangements began on Sept. 15 at Westminster Cathedral with a private vigil with Rite of Reception and Vespers for her immediate family, where Lord Nicholas was photographed solo.

Nicholas and Paola’s reported separation makes news weeks before what would have been the couple’s 19th wedding anniversary.

According to Royal Central, the former couple tied the knot in a civil wedding in London in October 2006, followed by a religious ceremony at St. Stephen of the Abyssinians Church in Vatican City that November.

Lord Nicholas had followed in the footsteps of his mother Katharine by converting to Catholicism in 2001, and his faith was reflected in their religious wedding, which was reportedly the first to be held at Vatican City State.

He and Paola, who was born into Croatian and Italian nobility, met at a party in New York in 1999, marking the end of the millennium.