“He forced his father into an outbuilding when he could not get in. Mr Kingston was found inside with a catastrophic head injury. There was a gun at the scene.
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Emergency services were called. “The police are convinced that the death is not suspicious.”
The hearing at Gloucestershire Coroner's Court lasted just minutes. Several journalists and a Buckingham Palace representative were present but no family members were present.
Kingston once worked as a hostage negotiator in Iraq. Known as Tom, he read economic history at Bristol University before joining the Foreign Office's Diplomatic Missions Unit.
He was seconded 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 bombing in the Iraqi capital that killed 22 people.
The Reverend Canon Andrew White, who was then vicar of St George's Church, the only Anglican church in Iraq, worked closely with him.
He described him as a courageous and very committed Christian Telegraph“I loved him so much. The thing about Tom was that he was never afraid. Whatever I asked him to do, he would do it with a big smile on his face in the middle of a war zone.”
Kingston returned to the UK to work for Schroders, the global asset manager, as an equity analyst before becoming managing director of Voltan Capital Management and later a director of Devonport Capital, which provides short-term loans to companies operating in the developing world. .
His father was a very successful lawyer, specializing in planning law.
He is also a devout Christian, having been elected to the General Synod in 2016. His mother, Jill, is a trustee of the Christian Healing Center and runs the Nadezhda Charitable Trust, which supports projects in Zimbabwe.
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Kingston was introduced to his royal bride through mutual friends and shown to the car-free island of Sark, where his parents have a holiday home.
Lady Gabriella's father, Prince Michael, is a cousin of Elizabeth II and a grandson of George V. The couple married at St George's Chapel, Windsor, in May 2019, in a lavish ceremony attended by a host of senior royals including the late Queen and Prince Philip.
The couple were said to be 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 evening. Mrs. Gabriella praised her husband, describing him as “an exceptional man who lit up the lives of everyone 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 grieving a “much loved member of the family.”
A family spokesperson said: “In particular, Their Majesties send their deepest condolences and prayers to Gabriella and all of the Kingston family.”
The brief hearing did not provide any evidence as to Kingston's cause of death.
The news left friends and family distraught. Many insisted that he and Lady Gabriella, who lived in London, were happily married and had no known financial difficulties.
Some have speculated that the shocks Kingston experienced in Baghdad may have had long-term effects, but if so, they appear to have been hidden.
“We survived many suicide attacks,” Canon White said this week of his time in Iraq. We were regularly exposed to explosive devices [improvised explosive device] Attacks. Cars were exploding in front of us and we were moving forward. We were always together and had 35 armed guards at all times.
The two men are said to have been at Cannon White's Anglican Church when it was targeted in a suicide attack. They entered the building just before the explosion, which killed two worshipers and 20 others.
The Kingston family has the support of Buckingham Palace, which in cooperation with the police has taken measures to protect their privacy for their safety and security.
Prince and Princess Michael attended a memorial service on Tuesday for King Constantine of Greece at St. George's Church.
