The two left the church arm in arm, their smiles radiating love and warmth. The bride wore a classy Italian haute couture dress that hugged her slim figure, and the handsome groom unleashed that devastating grin that made him a “fat man’s delight” in the social world.
Lady Gabriella Windsor and her new husband Thomas Kingston couldn’t have been happier as they stood on the steps of St. George’s Chapel, acknowledged the cheering crowds of well-wishers, and stood at the beginning of their new life together. Looked.
“She was very pretty and he looked proud,” recalls one of the guests. “They had a steady gaze of the utmost satisfaction. My wife whispered to me, ‘This couple will never be separated.’
With just 12 weeks to go until their fifth wedding anniversary, no one could have imagined that Tom would pick up the family shotgun and leave her side forever.
Yesterday, the 45-year-old son-in-law of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent was found dead with a fatal gunshot wound to the head in an outbuilding in the grounds of his parents’ £3 million mansion. The inquest heard how he was found dead next to his body. Kemble, Gloucestershire.
Dame Gabriella Windsor and her new husband Thomas Kingston looked couldn’t be happier on their wedding day in May 2019
Details are sketchy in the final hours leading up to this devastating tragedy last Sunday, almost a Labor Day. He was having lunch with his parents, Martin and Jill, at his parents’ home, a 15-minute drive from King Charles’ country retreat Highgrove House.
After lunch, Tom’s lawyer father took the family dog for a walk. When he returned to the house where the couple had lived since 1996, his son was no longer there.
About 30 minutes later, his mother came outside to look for him. Moments later, when her husband was unable to respond, she forced open the locked door of the outbuilding.
Inside, she found her son, who was fatally injured.
No other parties are believed to be involved. Gloucestershire Police previously said officers were called to the scene by an ambulance crew just before 6.30pm. An autopsy confirmed that the cause of death was head trauma.
At the beginning of the inquest, which lasted just five minutes, Gloucester University senior coroner Katie Skerrett briefly described what happened. “Mr Kingston” was “visiting her parents’ home in the Cotswolds,” she said. His father went out to walk the dog.
Gabriella Windsor and husband Tom Kingston two months after their 2019 wedding
“When he returned, Mr. Kingston was not home. When the father could not get an answer, he forced his way into a locked outbuilding. He found Mr. Kingston dead from a fatal head injury. A firearm was found at the scene. Emergency services were called. Police are satisfied that the death is not suspicious.”
What exactly prompted this seemingly happy man with a loving wife to commit such a desperate act is likely to become the subject of an intense investigation.
Outwardly, Tom Kingston seemed to have it all. A marriage to one of the “finest” members of the royal family, a wide circle of friends, and a thriving financial investment business. He was a man whose easy cheerfulness and hearty customs promised him a bright life from an early age. According to his acquaintances, he was only looking for a comfortable family life.
They had no children, but married life clearly matched his. He has survived the fishbowl-like existence that permeates all royal marriages, no matter how far from the throne he is. And he did it with dignity.
Lady Gabriella (Ella to her family and friends) was not close in line to the throne, but as the daughter of the flamboyant Princess Michael, she was often the center of unwanted attention. Her great accomplishment is that she always dealt with it with a good-natured smile.
The couple did not live a luxurious life, nor were they the target of paparazzi.
In many ways, their no-frills approach (their home is a modest flat in fashionable Notting Hill, which they had recently put up for sale pending a move to more space) is reminiscent of Ella’s royal cousins. It will be a valuable life lesson for some.
This earned them a seat at the royal top table, guests of the King and Queen at last summer’s Ascot House Party, as well as countless other A-list gatherings.
Indeed, the King not only paid a touching tribute after Tom’s death, but also instructed Buckingham Palace staff to provide support not only to Prince and Meghan, but also to the devastated Kingston family. It was important to interrupt cancer treatment. This was unusual, as the Kent family was not a working royal family. But it also reflects Ella and Tom’s popularity.
His death stunned a royal family already reeling from a number of domestic issues, including the illness of Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales, who were at the limit of their ability to carry out their normal duties.
Although Ella loved being married and being “Mrs. Kingston,” she technically still has her title and is officially Lady Gabriella Kingston.
Tom shares a laugh with Queen Camilla at Royal Ascot last summer
On weekends, the couple could often be seen visiting Notting Hill’s farmers’ market or browsing hand-in-hand in the trendy shops lining Holland Park Avenue.
When Tom and Ella got engaged, old friends of the Bristol University economics graduate used to joke that he was punching above his weight by marrying into Princess Pussy’s noble circle.
He repeated with equal good humor that she was lucky to have joined the Kingston family.
Of course, both had their “pasts,” but none of them were all that controversial. However, Ella gained attention when her ex-boyfriend wrote an ill-advised article about her mother, the royal family, and racism.
The truth is that Tom, who spent several dangerous years working as a hostage negotiator in war-torn Iraq, had a number of cute girlfriends before he met Ella. He was one of those good-looking guys whose friends liked to tell epic stories of their amorous adventures.
But not all of them were tall. Women were attracted to his easygoing confidence, and men envied his easy success with the opposite sex.
In fact, he has charmed some of the most beautiful young women around Prince William and Prince Harry’s set.
Among them are Pippa Middleton (the princess’ sister), who is now married to hedge fund executive James Matthews, and Louisa Strutt, an investor whom Tom dated while he was working, although they denied any romantic relationship. Prince William’s former girlfriend Natalie Hicks-Robecke was also spotted. Iraq.
He and “Nutt” met when they were both at Bristol University.
One close friend said admiringly, “Tom’s great accomplishment is that none of his old girlfriends have anything but good things to say about him.” After all this, they still love him. ”
At the wedding, one of Tom’s friends said to me: “He’s exactly the kind of person you’d want to introduce to your mom.”
But there was another side to characters like Gatsby, who kept appearing on the arms of pretty girls at high society weddings. He had a deep and abiding Christian faith. And it was this spiritual element that armed him during the three years he spent in Baghdad, at the height of post-war violence.
There he worked there alongside the so-called vicar of the Baghdad Anglican Church, Canon Andrew White, who described him as “fearless” and an “extraordinary young man”, and whom Tom affectionately refers to as the Arabic word for priest. It was called “Abuuna”.
The pair had many encounters with death, most notably in 2004 when a suicide bomber killed 22 people at White’s church.
“Tom was with me in Iraq during the most dangerous period of the war,” White said this week.
“One of the first things I taught him was, “Remember, we’re not being careful, we’re taking risks. That when we make peace, we don’t make peace with good people, we only make peace with really bad people.” Tom learned that quickly, and that’s what he did to me.
“One day he went to meet a group of Ayatollahs that I had sent him to see, and he came back and said, “No, Abuna, they were all good people.” certainly got the message that you can only make peace with the bad guys. ”
Cannon White, who was in attendance at Tom and Ella’s wedding, suddenly had memories of those days come flooding back. There he was able to talk to Prince Michael, the protégé’s new father-in-law, about the mission they had accomplished for him in Israel, long before Tom’s eyes flashed.
The prince, whose mother’s family was from Greece, had relatives buried near the Mount of Olives, but the location was unknown. The priest and his assistant not only found the ruined tomb, but also cleaned it up.
Meanwhile, back in the UK, Tom entered the world of finance, first at blue blood asset management firm Schroders, before joining Devonport Capital in 2017 as one of two directors. Devonport provides short-term loans to companies operating in developing countries. We have an office in St. James, just around the corner from Clarence House.
His wedding, held at St. George’s Chapel, was an important social event. The Queen and Prince Philip led the guests.
It’s been almost a year since Prince Harry married Meghan Markle at the same venue, and the only thing they have in common is that and sunshine.
“She was such a sweet bride and was so fussed over by her bridesmaids and pageboys, and he was so attentive,” Guest recalled. “Of course it helped that we both had dazzling smiles.”
From the chapel, a bus took guests to Frogmore House for the reception, where the couple had their wedding photos taken.
Even in the dark months ahead, the memories of the happiest days will remain forever.
Additional reporting: Simon Trump
