The Death & Memorial Service of Thomas Kingston, Husband of Lady Gabriella Kingston

[crm2317]

How terribly sad for the whole family. So difficult to understand how someone can choose to leave you. Just goes to show you never can tell what a person might be going through or what demons they are wrestling with in their mind.

 

[muriel]

Very sad. Whilst Tom's death would have been difficult for Ella and his family in itself, that it was suicide makes it even worse. Hope they can find the strength to work through this and come to terms with this very hard reality.

 

[Saragli]

How sad. I can't imagine the pain Lady Gabriella, his parents, and his family and friends are going through right now. Just heartbreaking.

 

[doro]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1763566790129418724

Thomas Kingston, the husband of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent’s daughter Lady Gabriella Kingston, died from “traumatic head wound” and a gun was found near to his body in an outbuilding at his parent’s home in the Cotswolds, an inquest opening at Gloucestershire Coroner’s Court heard

OMG! Shocking.

 

[Somebody]

This is such tragic news. Thomas clearly wanted to spend some time with his parents on his last day. For the family it must have been clear what happened from the start but they may have needed some time to process what happened before publicizing it to the world.

Is it common in the UK that the BBC and other news outlets talk about the cause of his death in such a roundabout way? In the Netherlands, they would have been more forthcoming and name it by what it unfortunately is (and include a reference to a suicide hotline at the end of the article).

 

[Royalist.in.NC]

From the BBC

Thomas Kingston died from traumatic head wound, inquest hears

Prince Michael of Kent's son-in-law was found dead at his parents' home with gun nearby, an inquest hears.

www.bbc.com

This is so horribly tragic and a terrible loss for his wife, family, and friends. May he rest in peace.

 

[Prinsara]

There is no good way to die so young. Poor Lady Ella and his family, and poor Tom himself.

I hope William will be able to spare a moment for Ella to connect with all the extensive mental health work he does.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

This is absolutely unbelievable news. Thomas was so young.

 

[Mirabel]

He seemed like a man with so much to live for, almost a charmed life.

I suppose now the press will be avid to discover he cause.

 

[hereditarytitles]

I hope very much that the press has the decency to abstain from further speculations. This tragedy is hard enough for the family and no further pain should be afflicted by lots of coverage in the tabloids.

 

[maria-olivia]

Prince and Princess Michael knew their son in law commited suicide and had to be present at King Constantine Thanksgiving. My deepest respect for them.

 

[muriel]

Prince and Princess Michael knew their son in law commited suicide and had to be present at King Constantine Thanksgiving. My deepest respect for them.

I suspect Prince & Princess Michael chose to go to the service to seek some solace in being in a church, and being with loved ones. We do not know if they stayed for the reception, or left after the service.

 

[suztav]

I hope very much that the press has the decency to abstain from further speculations. This tragedy is hard enough for the family and no further pain should be afflicted by lots of coverage in the tabloids.

Exactly. Everyone has now received the information they were looking for. Allow the family to grieve in peace. God take care of them!

 

[Kataryn]

If it was personal reasons, I hope we will not find out. If it had something to do with his business actions, it should be reported in the financial pages, if at all. He must have been under enormous pressure, being the husband of a minor royal and son-in-law of not-so-much loved Princess Michael, always aware of the tabloids and their greed for negative information.

 

[Somebody]

Prince and Princess Michael knew their son in law commited suicide and had to be present at King Constantine Thanksgiving. My deepest respect for them.

Konstantinos was Gabriella's godfather, so I assume she was also scheduled to attend but for obvious reasons decided against it.

 

[doro]

Prince and Princess Michael knew their son in law commited suicide and had to be present at King Constantine Thanksgiving. My deepest respect for them.

OH MY GAWD! I hope they being stronger

 

[Mirabel]

I hope very much that the press has the decency to abstain from further speculations. This tragedy is hard enough for the family and no further pain should be afflicted by lots of coverage in the tabloids.

Press and Decency? Isn't that an oxymoron?

 

[Susan D]

How horrible. Condolences, once again, to Lady Gabriella.
I see that it is a tough time for Royals at this time in history: Ari Behn; King Juan Carlos; the Duke of York; the last Savoy pretender; then, the illnesses of King Charles III and the Princess of Wales. Phew. This is not an easy time for Royals.

 

[LauraS3514]

Depression (I am assuming here) is a horrible, horrible disease and is often completely invisible to others. Many of those with depression can put on an "I'm just fine and dandy" face while the demon is destroying them from within, and their closest family and friends never suspect a thing. I hope that his family can receive the help that they need to process this tragedy.

 

[rominet09]

Horrible for the family, may he rest in peace.

 

[maria-olivia]

This is my last comment about this affair because I am against suicide.
Lady Gabriella was not at her parents in law home , lucky for her I really hope she wll not find herself guitly.

 

[Alisa]

How utterly awful for him to be found in such a state ("catastrophic head injury" by his parents. I cannot imagine how they must be suffering. It is so unnatural for parents to bury their children.

All the articles I have read suggests that Tom was a wonderful happy-go-lucky guy. I guess this is further proof that you never know what personal demons people are facing.

 

[Kataryn]

Press and Decency? Isn't that an oxymoron?

Yes. But it seems the are ok with it. Even Richard Kay is sensitive in his writing. Btw. I was astonished he is still alive! It's close to 30 years now that Diana died (and his "success" with her)

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

I am surprised about the suicide because in many outlets the deep and steadfast Christian faith is mentioned. Having said that, there is a history of tough war experiences that most certainly were traumatic.

 

[hereditarytitles]

I am surprised about the suicide because in many outlets the deep and steadfast Christian faith is mentioned. Having said that, there is a history of tough war experiences that most certainly were traumatic.

He might have suffered from PTSD because of his experiences in Iraq. However there are many ways nowadays to get help by special psychological treatment. But we don't know what went on in his mind, it is so very sad for him and his family.

 

[HenRach Dominion]

Actor and comedian (who tragically also died by suicide) Robin Williams once said "I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it's like to feel absolutely worthless and they don't want anyone else to feel like that." So it doesn't surprise me that Thomas Kingston would have a happy veneer in spite not feeling that way on the inside.

Depression is a truly insidious disease. It exacerbates negative experiences and warps positive ones into negative ones. It convinces people that their loved ones' lives would be much better if they weren't in it, that they're doing the world a favor by taking their own lives.

Of course, it's the exact opposite. Unfortunately, Thomas's loved ones will spend the rest of their lives combing over every word they said to him, every action they did, every sign they've might have missed, anything to retroactively save his life. The death of a loved one to suicide is one of the worst things that happen to anyone. My heart goes out to Lady Gabriella along with the Kingston and Kent families, and I hope they have all the help they need to process Thomas's death in a way that's not self-recriminating.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

We don't know if his family is as surprised as we are, not everyone likes to make his struggles public or speaks out about it.
I have not read about leaving a note, that would become public knowledge as it would be filed with the coroner I think.
It may give the family some kind of peace, trying to explain why, instead of taking this action out of the blue.

 

[carlota]

I feel so bad for his parents that not only did it happen on their property, they were the ones to find the body with the visible catastrophic head injury. They'll never get those images out of their head, or escape the view of the outbuilding every time they look outside.

how very sad. he may have chosen his parent's house to avoid lady gabriella the trauma of finding him. it must be so hard for the parents to one minute be having lunch with his son, to finding him dead the next. as you've all said, it is hard to imagine this would happen as he seemed so happy always and had a seemingly 'good' life - married to a lovely wife, with a good job, with good social status, with a stable family unit. one doesn't know what goes behind the scenes. it is such a sad event. i had assumed when it was first reported that it would have been one of those sudden death events (anaeurysm, heart attack etc), but this is such a shock. i hope his family find solace in due course and are left alone during the funeral events.

 

[Kataryn]

I thought there was "reasons". But now it sems to have been depressions. His wife could not help with them and the disease that depressions are. He took the way out. But how can she cope with it? My heart goes out to her. May she cope with "it" and her life as a Royal and one day find peace.

 

[Ista]

A reminder to be very careful about making assumptions or guesses in this really tragic situation, since that can easily cross over into speculation and which is expressly against forum rules.