The royal couple have reportedly went their separate things but will never make it legally official.
The couple have separated but will not officially divorce(Image: Indigo/Getty Images)
A royal couple who have recently split will not officially divorce for one reason according to a close friend. Lord Nicholas Windsor, who is the youngest son of the Duke and late Duchess of Kent, and his wife, Paola, Lady Nicholas Windsor, are reportedly no longer together.
While Lord Nicholas has not announced this himself, Paola’s absence at her mother-in-law’s funeral earlier this month raised suspicions with a family friend confirming that the couple had made the decision to go their separate ways. Their split comes 19 years after they tied the knot in 2006, in what is remembered as the first Roman Catholic Royal Family wedding since the reign of Queen Mary I in the 16th century.
While it’s unusual for married couples to divorce after separating, it’s believed that this won’t be the case for Lord Nicholas, 55, and Paola, 56. This is due to because they are known to be “very conservative and dislike divorce”.
A close source told The Daily Mail: “It’s very sad, but the couple have been separated for some time.
Nicholas was not accompanied by his wife to his mother’s funeral earlier this month(Image: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
“They no longer attend family events together. Both are very conservative and dislike divorce, so apparently they will never actually get divorced.”
It’s understood the couple will co-parent their three sons Albert, Leopold and Louis.
It is not known exactly when the couple separated or what the reason behind their split was.
The Royal Family have not commented on the matter.
While Lord Nicholas and Paolo may not divorce, plenty of other Royal Family members have in the past.
Three out of four of Queen Elizabeth’s children’s marriages ended in failure and they were all around about the same time.
This includes King Charles, who divorced his first wife, the late Princess Diana in 1996 after their very public split in 1992 while he was still the Prince of Wales.
Charles and Diana divorced in 1996(Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
He is believed to have engaged in an affair with his now wife, Queen Camilla, in 1986 with the late Princess of Wales famously saying during her 1995 interview with BBC One’s Panorama: “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
Diana’s death came in 1997 after she was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris. Charles did not publicly step out with Camilla until 1999 and eventually tied the knot with Camilla in 2005.
Princess Anne, also divorced her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips in 1992, who she shares her two children, Zara and Peter with.
She remarried later that same year to Commander Timothy Laurence.
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In 1992, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson also announced their split, although they did not officially divorce until 1996.
Despite this, the pair have never moved on with new partners and still share a very amicable relationship, residing together in the Royal Lodge in Windsor.
The pair share their two daughters, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice together.