In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of their relationship. However, it retains formal sovereignty, and remains a state under international law. A territory subject to this type of arrangement is also known as a protected state.

A second meaning came about as a result of European colonial expansion in the nineteenth century. Many colonized territories (mentioned on this page) came to be referred to as "colonial protectorates", but were not regarded as separate states under international law. Entities referred to as "international protectorates" can become so subordinated to the protecting power that in effect they lose their independent statehood, though there are exceptions.

Ronald Frankau (22 February 1894 - 11 September 1951) was an English comedian and musician from London who started in cabarets and made his way to radio and films.

It is said^[who?] that it was difficult to get much information about Frankau’s early life because, when asked about it, he would joke rather than divulge any personal information.

Frankau's father was Arthur Frankau, grandson of Joseph Frankau, a German Jew from Frankfurt who came to London in the late 1830s and started a cigar trading business. Arthur Frankau married Julia Davis, who was a celebrated novelist of satirical books. Some of the titles include Pigs in Clover and An Incomplete Etonian. This may account for Frankau's grasp of satire in his later work as a comedian.

Frankau's parents had four children, Gilbert, Jack, Ronald and Joan. Gilbert went into the family trading business until the war (living and working for a while in Germany), was a war poet and subsequently a novelist, while his daughter, Pamela Frankau, became a novelist too. Jack was killed leading his platoon in the 3rd Battle of Gaza in November 1917. Joan married the historian Stanley Bennett and, as a Cambridge don in her own right, Joan Bennett was one of the key defence witnesses in the Lady Chatterley trial of 1960.