Lady Gabriella Windsor will appear in the carriage procession at Royal Ascot today, making her first official public appearance since the tragic death of her husband, Thomas Kingston, in February.
The event will be particularly poignant for the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent as she attended the society race event last year with her late husband.Â
War hero and financier Kingston died by suicide on February 25th at the age of 45 at his parents’ home in the Cotswolds.Â
Today, grieving Gabriella will take her place alongside Princess Anne and Peter Phillips for the occasion.Â
The royal family have proved a strong beacon of support for the 43-year-old in recent months.Â
At the weekend, Ella, as she is known by friends, made a low-key appearance at Trooping the Colour after being invited by the King.Â
Zara Tindall is pictured embracing Lady Gabriella Kingston as they both attend day one of Royal Ascot in Berkshire
Today marks the first day of the famous equestrian event, which is a favourite among members of The Firm
Lady Gabriella Kingston (pictured, right) arrives at the event in a carriage, accompanied by Princess Anne (pictured, left)
King Charles is pictured (left) at the horse racing event with his wife Queen Camilla (right) and niece Zara Tindall (centre)
Lady Gabriella Windsor and her late husband Thomas Kingston at Royal Ascot in 2023; grieving Lady Gabriella will return to the event today supported by members of the royal family as she joins them for the first time in the carriage procession
Thomas Kingston was found to have died from a ‘traumatic head wound’, an inquest heard in March (Pictured at Wimbledon, 2019)
She was seen watching the parade with family inside the palace, including her brother, Lord Frederik Windsor and his wife, Sophie Winkleman, whom she stood next to.Â
Lady Gabriella was photographed observing the performance behind Princess Anne, her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Lawrence and the Duke of Kent.
Lady Gabriella hung back from the balcony and watched the RAF flypast from inside Buckingham Palace.
Along with other junior royals, Ella had made regular appearances on the balcony until the arrival of Covid-19 in early 2020.
For Saturday’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.
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.
As well as attending Royal Ascot today, Lady Gabriella Windsor (pictured) was at Trooping the Colour last Saturday
King Charles (pictured, left) and Queen Camilla (pictured, right) are seen arriving at Royal Ascot in a carriage
The Queen wore a royal blue ensemble, coordinating her dress coat with a wide-brimmed hat in the same shade
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’.
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.Â
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.
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 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. Today, she’ll join the Princess Royal in the carriage procession at the society eventÂ
Lady Gabriella Windsor made her first public appearance following the tragic death of her husband, Thomas Kingston, at Trooping the Colour (pictured) – but kept a low profile
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
Lady Gabriella Kingston and Thomas Kingston at Nicky Haslam’s birthday party at The Polish Hearth Club, London, in November 2019
Lady Gabriella and her husband were last pictured in public together on Valentine’s Day at an event to celebrate the works of William Shakespeare.
At the inquest, the coroner’s court was told the circumstances surrounding Kingston’s death.Â
‘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,’ said Katy Skerrett, the senior coroner for Gloucestershire.
She 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.