Content advisory: This article mentions suicide, please take care while reading.
Last week, Buckingham Palace announced the death of a member of the royal family. Thomas Kingston was the husband of Lady Gabriella, and here’s what we know about the late royal and his cause of death.
Who was Thomas Kingston?
The British royal family tree is pretty big, and whilst plenty of people know about Charles, Camilla, Kate, William, and Harry, most people are unaware of the extended royal family. Kingston was 45 at the time of his passing, he was a financier and according to Tatler, he graduated from Bristol University with a degree in economic history. He held a number of different positions over the course of his life, even joining the diplomatic missions unit in Iraq to help Christian Iraqis rebuild after the 2003 invasion.
In case you couldn’t tell, Kingston was a devout Christian who worked closely with his peers abroad. His time in Iraq working as a hostage negotiator saw Kingston narrowly avoid some pretty dangerous situations, including a suicide bombing that killed 22 people. After returning to the U.K., he began a career in finance, climbing the corporate ladder, and ending up as a director of Davenport Capital.
What was Thomas Kingston’s cause of death?
The Guardian has reported that Kingston died as a result of “a traumatic head wound,” and that a gun was found near his body. Whilst there has been no official word confirming exactly what happened, the evidence seems to speak for itself, sadly. The tragic event occurred on the 25th of February, whilst he was visiting his parents in the Cotswolds. When his father returned from a dog walk, Kingston was nowhere to be found, and after a brief period of searching, his body was discovered in an outbuilding which his father had to force entry to.
A postmortem has since been carried out, and police are satisfied that the death is not suspicious. After his death was made public, tributes poured in from members of the royal family, including Charles and Camilla, as well as from Kingston’s widow, Lady Gabriella, who had been married to him for a number of years.
How did Thomas and Gabriella Kingston meet?
The Sun reports that the pair met through mutual friends back in 2014. However, Thomas was already well acquainted with the royal family before meeting Lady Gabriella, as he apparently dated Kate Middleton’s younger sister, Pippa, back in 2011 before calling things off. Despite their past, there didn’t appear to be any awkwardness between the two, as Thomas and his wife attended the wedding of Pippa and her husband, James Matthews, in 2017.
Thomas and Lady Gabriella got engaged towards the end of 2018, with Thomas popping the question whilst the pair were on holiday in the Isle of Sark. The couple tied the knot the following year at the same venue Meghan and Harry were wed a year prior. The couple had been happily wed for nearly five years, and did not have any children.
What was Thomas Kingston’s relationship to the King?
Gabriella’s father, Michael of Kent, is a first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and both a first cousin once removed and a second cousin to King Charles, so his daughter would also be a second cousin of the King — family trees can get confusing, especially if it’s the royals we’re talking about. Lady Gabriella would be 56th in line to succeed the throne after her father, brother, and her two young nieces. Thomas wouldn’t have had a claim to the throne, as he was not a part of the royal bloodline; he married into the family. Neither Lady Gabriella nor Thomas Kingston bore a royal title, either.
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