Lady Gabriella Windsor joined the Royal Family at Trooping the Colour in her first public appearance since the tragic death of her husband Thomas Kingston

Lady Gabriella Windsor made her first public appearance since the tragic death of her husband, Thomas Kingston, at Trooping the Colour yesterday. 

The daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, 43, put on a brave face as she watched the RAF flypast from inside Buckingham Palace.

King Charles invited Ella, as she is known by friends, to attend his birthday parade, marking her first appearance since her war hero and financier husband, Thomas Kingston, was found dead aged 45 at his parents’ home in the Cotswolds.

‘Everyone hopes that Ella will attend the celebrations, if she feels up to it,’ a royal source told the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden in May, adding: ‘It would be a powerful signal of the Family’s love and concern for her.’

The source’s hope materialised yesterday as she stood watching the parade with family inside the palace, including her brother, Lord Frederik Windsor and his wife, Sophie Winkleman, whom she stood next to.

Her invitation to yesterday’s event is a touching sign of the Royal Family rallying around to help Lady Gabriella recover from the ordeal.

Kingston died from a ‘traumatic head wound’, an inquest heard in March. A gun was found near his body in an outbuilding at his parents’ home in the Cotswolds.  

Understandably, Lady Gabriella hung back from the balcony and watched the RAF flypast from inside Buckingham Palace.

Lady Gabriella was photographed observing the performance behind Princess Anne, her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Lawrence and the Duke of Kent.

Along with other junior royals, Ella had made regular appearances on the balcony until the arrival of Covid-19 in early 2020.

For yesterday’s event, Lady Gabriella put on an elegant display in a light pink ensemble and matching fascinator.

Her appearance comes after her husband was found to have died from a ‘traumatic head wound’, an inquest heard in March. His death was not being treated as suspicious, and no one else was involved.

The coroner’s court was told: ‘His father went out to walk the dogs. On his return Mr Kingston was not in the house. After approximately 30 minutes his mother went to look for him.’

Thomas Kingston was found to have died from a ‘traumatic head wound’, an inquest heard in March. (Pictured at Wimbledon, 2019)

Lady Gabriella put on a brave display as she watched the RAF flypast from inside Buckingham Palace

Lady Gabriella watched the RAF fly past next to her brother, Lord Frederik Windsor, and his wife, Sophie Winkleman

Katy Skerrett, the senior coroner for Gloucestershire, added: ‘His father forced entry into a locked outbuilding. Mr Kingston was found inside with a catastrophic head injury. A gun was present at the scene. Police are satisfied the death is not suspicious.’

The coroner said a post-mortem examination had been undertaken and a provisional cause of death had been determined as a traumatic wound to the head. She formally opened the inquest into the death and adjourned it.

Announcing his death in February, Buckingham Palace described Mr Kingston, a financier, as a ‘much loved member of the family’ who was being mourned by King Charles and Queen Camilla. A friend of the couple said: ‘They remained childless but were happily married until the end.’

After studying economic history at the University of Bristol, Mr Kingston joined the diplomatic missions unit of the Foreign Office in Iraq, working as a project officer for the Iraqi Institute of Peace from 2003 to 2006.

After his death, Lady Gabriella paid tribute to her husband in a joint statement with his family, describing him as an ‘exceptional man who lit up the lives of all who knew him’ – and called his death a ‘great shock to the whole family’.

Lady Gabriella hung back from the balcony, where (pictured from L to R) Princess Anne, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Lawrence and the Duke of Kent stood

Thomas Kingston (pictured), the husband of Lady Gabriella Windsor, was a director of Devonport Capital

Mr Kingston and Lady Gabriella, known as Ella, were married at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in 2019

Mr Kingston pictured alongside Lady Gabriella Windsor at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022

She released a personal photo she took of her husband, showing him smiling and dressed in a casual pink shirt as he stood near a stretch of water in the sunshine.

Mr Kingston and Lady Gabriella, known as Ella, were married at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in a ceremony attended by Prince Michael’s first cousin, Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Philip in 2019. 

In April, it was revealed that Lady Gabriella moved back in with her parents at their home in Kensington Palace.

‘They wanted Ella to be with them, and she didn’t want to be alone in the home she shared with Tom,’ one of her friends told Richard Eden at the time.

Lady Gabriella, 43, whose father is a first cousin of the late Queen, had previously lived in the Notting Hill area of West London.

Lady Gabriella Kingston and Thomas Kingston at Nicky Haslam’s birthday party at The Polish Hearth Club, London, in November 2019

After the financier’s death, King Charles and Queen Camilla’s spokesman said they had sent ‘their most heartfelt thoughts and prayers to Gabriella and to all the Kingston family’.

Lady Gabriella is the King’s second cousin. They are both great-grandchildren of King George V.

Mr Kingston was a director of Devonport Capital, which specialises in providing finance for companies in ‘frontier economies’.

He was a close friend of Pippa Matthews – the Princess of Wales’s sister – and the pair were said to have dated in 2011.

Lady Gabriella, who has worked as an arts and travel director for a brand company, is a writer and contributing editor.

She is also a singer-songwriter and released two bossa nova-inspired tracks in 2020 to raise money for charity.

Lady Gabrielle and her husband were last pictured in public together on Valentine’s Day at an event to celebrate the works of William Shakespeare.