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Thomas Kingston passed away in February of this year. His death was announced several days after the fact, and Buckingham Palace held the announcement until just after King Constantine’s Windsor memorial service. It was clear, in real time, that Kensington Palace was also briefing about Kingston’s death as a deflection from Prince William’s absence at Constantine’s memorial. Since then, Kingston’s widow Lady Gabriella Windsor has been avoiding public events. She moved out of the Notting Hill home she shared with her husband, and she apparently moved in with her parents in Kensington Palace. Reportedly, King Charles invited Gabriella to Trooping the Colour, and many of us wondered if Gabriella would turn up on the balcony. It felt like she was possibly “backup” – an attractive younger royal woman who could show up on the balcony in case the Princess of Wales couldn’t make it to Trooping. Well, Gabriella did go to Trooping, but she didn’t step foot on the balcony.
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.
Only the Mail covered the photos – you could only see Gabriella from certain angles in wide shots of the far-right side of the balcony. I’m fascinated by the fake “honor” of being on the balcony versus the minor royal figures who “get invited” to Trooping. In 2022, the Sussexes were “invited” to Trooping at the last minute, but they watched the parade from a different area with the other cousins. Not Gabriella and Lord Frederick Windsor – they were actually invited into Buckingham Palace for Trooping, but simply not allowed on the balcony.
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 https://t.co/sDfo0EkpRd pic.twitter.com/IvF57ejRg5
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) June 16, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
St Paul’s Cathedral, London, UK. 3 June 2022. The National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, part of Platinum Jubilee Celebrations for The Queen’s reign. Leaving the service (left to right): Lord Frederick Windsor and Sophie Winkleman, Lady Gabriella and Thomas Kingston,Image: 696890237, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: MALCOLM PARK / Avalon Lady Gabriella Kingston and Thomas Kingston arrive at the Committal Service for Queen Elizabeth II held at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, Berkshire.,Image: 724207199, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Victoria Jones / Avalon Lady Gabriella Kingston and Lord Frederick Windsor at The Coronation of King Charles III at London”s Westminster Abbey 06 May 2023,Image: 774252081, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Mark Stewart / Avalon
On the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, to view the flypast following the Trooping the Colour ceremony in central London, as King Charles celebrates his official birthday. Featuring: The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince George, Prince Louis, and Princess Charlotte, King Charles III, Queen Camilla, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Lady Louise Windsor, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence and the Duke of Kent Where: London, United Kingdom When: 15 Jun 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY** On the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, to view the flypast following the Trooping the Colour ceremony in central London, as King Charles celebrates his official birthday. Featuring: The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince George, Prince Louis, and Princess Charlotte, King Charles III, Queen Camilla, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Lady Louise Windsor, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence and the Duke of Kent Where: London, United Kingdom When: 15 Jun 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**