House of Frankopan - Recent History

Recent History

Louis Frankopan and his wife are members of the Croatian and Italian nobility. 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."

The judgment has executory force in all jurisdictions in Europe and elsewhere and is recognised by the Croatian Government.

Their eldest son, 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".

In 1991 Louis Doimi de Lupis Frankopan and his wife Ingrid were appointed official spokespersons for the Croatian Government.

Immediately after the end of the Croatian War of Independence, Louis Frankopan founded the Croatian Nobility Association, a private non-governmental organisation, but after internal disagreements, he resigned from the Association.

Louis Frankopan read Geology at Oxford University and then took a Degree in Philosophy at London University. He also qualified as a Barrister, and is a member of Middle Temple. He is a businessman and a banker and was for many years the vice-president of a large Brazilian bank in London.

He met his future wife at Oxford where they were both studying at the university. Ingrid Detter de Frankopan is a 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.

The couple have five children, all educated at Oxford and/or Cambridge University. There are two daughters, Paola and Christina, and three sons, Peter, Nicholas and Lawrence, Princes Frankopan, Counts Doimi de Lupis.

Their eldest daughter, Paola, is married to Lord Nicholas Windsor, younger son of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. She read Classics at Cambridge University where she was a Choral Scholar and took a Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondis (M.Phil) at Paris IV, La Sorbonne in Philosophy, submitting a thesis on L'autorité de l'Etat in French. She has, as Paola Frankopan, written for The Tatler where she is a contributing editor and for Vogue USA She has published an introduction to the history of the Sanctuary of Trsat 'Trsatska Sveta Kuča', in Croatian.

Their eldest son Peter, D.Phil. (Oxon); M.Phil. (Oxon); M.A. (Cantab), studied Russian and French at Cambridge where he was a Choral Scholar. He then read for a doctorate in History at Oxford. He is now a historian and author of 'The First Crusade'. He is Director of Oxford University's Centre for Byzantine Research and University Lecturer at the Faculty of Modern Languages and Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford University. He is a Governor of Wellington College and trustee of World Monuments Fund Britain. He says that the "title (of the family) is not any claim on anything. It is just a reflection of the age of the family". He maintains that his family split from other branches of the Frankopan family in the 14th century. Together with his wife, he founded Cambridge University's Frankopan Directorship for Gender Studies.

The second daughter, Christina, is an investment banker, having read Economics at Cambridge University where she was a Choral Scholar. She is married to Patrick Nicholson, head of Communications for Caritas Internationalis in the Vatican.

Their second son, Nicholas, read History, first at Oxford and then at Cambridge University and is M.A. (Oxon); M.Phil. (Cantab); MBA (Columbia). He won two gold Medals for Great Britain at the Junior European Championships in rowing in 1992. He is now an investment banker in London.

The youngest son, Lawrence, read History at King’s College, London and was then Visiting Scholar in History at New College, Oxford. He is a sports agent and was first with IMG in tennis division and then appointed the Head of Lagardère Unlimited (UK) in London. He is now Head of his own company StarWing Sports Management./