After years of private heartache, the Duke and Duchess of Kent's second son, Lord Nicholas Windsor is reportedly set to wed a British-born Croat, Paola Frankopan. The wedding, which it's believed will take place in November, follows a four-year romance which has been led far from the public gaze.

According to a friend: "They are a very happy couple, devoted to one another, always holding hands and very much in love."

Richard Kay, who broke the story, claims the wedding is set to be hugely significant, it being believed that the Queen is to allow her cousin once-removed to wed in the Vatican in Rome.

Lord Nicholas, pictured here with Princess Margaret's daughter Lady Sarah Chatto at a party during this summer, converted to the Roman Catholic church in 2001, resulting in his relinquishing his distant claim to the throne. His low-key move came almost a decade since his mother, the Duchess of Kent (who has since cast off her royal title and role) converted to Roman Catholicism in January 1994.

He wasn't the first son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent to make such a move. Nicholas's older brother, the Earl of St. Andrews, also relinquished his position in the line of succession on his marriage to Catholic divorcee Silvana Tomaselli. Under the Act of Settlement 1701, a Catholic personage cannot become monarch, nor can anyone who marries a Catholic, or converts.

Nicholas is incredibly close to his mother, who now goes by the name 'Katherine Kent', both having suffered private agony, not least health problems. In 2001, the Duchess was said to be "frantic with worry" following reports that Nicholas was battling the eating disorder anorexia nervosa as well as chronic depression.

In his early years the young royal was unfairly dubbed a "royal wastrel" by some sections of the press who reported on his problems, not least his arrest in St. James's Park at the age of 18 when he was picked up by police for allegedly smoking a joint.

Nicholas was duly dubbed a "deeply troubled young man", not least when details of his illness became public knowledge. An attendant at the 1981 wedding of Charles and Diana, the Lord has now turned his life around and undertakes a huge amount of charity work, far from the public lens which has dogged (and it could be said ruined) the lives of several of his royal relations.

Now, at last, it would seem Lord Nicholas has found private happiness, thanks in part to his deep faith. A friend of Nicholas and Paola tells Kay: "They are both deeply Catholic and, as such, it is entirely appropriate for them to wish to marry at the Vatican. Of course there may be obstacles to overcome, but it is their overriding wish that, if possible, the wedding takes place in Rome."

The Queen is, of course, Head of The Church of England, a role which is set to be inherited by the Prince of Wales, who is Nichola's godfather. Therefore, such a move is hugely historic, it being the first royal wedding to take place at the Vatican — most likely in a side room off the Basilica — since the Reformation over 400 years ago.

The announcement of 36-year-old Nicholas's engagement to Paola is expected to be announced by Buckingham Palace in the near future.

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Name: Thomas	Comment: The Queen is not "Head" of the Church of England...she is Supreme Governor which is a lay role, something quite different.Lord Nicholas, though of the blood royal, is not himself a "young royal".His mother has not "cast off her title". She prefers that her pupils call her Katherine Kent.By side room off the basilica, I presume you mean a chapel?

Name: Trudie	Comment: I'm sure that with their deep religious convictions and low key lifestyles the Kent children all seem to have happy marriages this marriage will be no exception. My congratulations to the happy couple.

Name: M-M	Comment: The best of luck to both of them!