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Thomas KingstonLady Gabriella Windsor’s husband was found dead in his parents’ home with a “catastrophic head injury” and a gun near his body, a coroner said.
Kingston, 45, died on property in Cotswold village on Sunday.
Katy Skerrett, chief coroner for Gloucestershire, said the financier, son-in-law of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, had lunch with his parents before his body was found in an outbuilding.
He said an autopsy had been performed and a “traumatic head injury” had been given as the provisional cause of death.
Opening an inquest into Kingston’s death, Ms Skerrett said she had been provided with evidence of the brief circumstances surrounding “this tragic incident”.
She said: “Mr Kingston was visiting his parents’ home in the Cotswolds on February 25. He had lunch with his parents.
“His father went out to walk the dogs. On his return, Mr. Kingston was not in the house. After about 30 minutes, his mother went to pick him up.
“His father forced his way into an outbuilding when he couldn’t get in. Mr Kingston was found inside with a catastrophic head injury. A firearm was found at the scene.
Emergency services were called. “Police are convinced the death is not suspicious.”
The hearing, at Gloucestershire Coroner’s Court, lasted less than a few minutes. Several journalists and a representative of Buckingham Palace were present, but no family members.
Kingston once worked as a hostage negotiator in Iraq. Known as Tom, he read economic history at the University of Bristol before joining the Foreign Office’s diplomatic missions unit.
He was sent to Baghdad as project director for the International Center for Reconciliation, based at Coventry Cathedral, in 2003. The following year, he cheated death in a suicide bomb attack in the Iraqi capital that killed 22 people. .
The Reverend Canon Andrew White, then vicar of St George’s Church, the only Anglican church in Iraq, worked closely with him.
He described him as a brave and very committed Christian, telling the telegraph: “I loved him very much. The thing about Tom is that he was never afraid. Everything she asked him to do, she did with a big smile on her face in the middle of a war zone.”
Kingston returned to the UK to work for Schroders, the global asset management firm, as an equity analyst before becoming managing director of Voltan Capital Management and later director of Devonport Capital, which provides short-term loans to companies trading in the developing world. .
His father was a highly successful lawyer, specializing in urban planning law. He is also a devout Christian and was elected to the General Synod in 2016. His mother, Jill, is a trustee of a Christian healing center and runs the Nadezhda Charitable Trust, which supports projects in Zimbabwe.
Kingston met his real girlfriend through mutual friends and proposed to her on the car-free island of Sark, where his parents have a holiday home.
Lady Gabriella’s father, Prince Michael, is Elizabeth II’s first cousin and grandson of George V. The couple married at St George’s Chapel, Windsor in May 2019, in a lavish ceremony attended by a number of royals including the late Queen and Prince Philip.
The couple were said to have been happily married until the end and were recently photographed together, smiling for the camera, on Valentine’s Day.
Buckingham Palace announced Kingston’s death On tuesday night. Lady Gabriella paid tribute to her husband, describing him as “an exceptional man who illuminated the lives of all who knew him”. She said his death was a “huge shock to the whole family”.
Buckingham Palace said the King and Queen joined Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and all those who knew Kingston in mourning “a much-loved member of the family.”
A spokesperson said: “In particular, Their Majesties send their deepest thoughts and prayers to Gabriella and the entire Kingston family.”