Who Was Pippa Middleton's Ex, Thomas Kingston?

On the evening of February 25, 2024, Thomas Kingston, husband of Lady Gabriella Windsor and the ex of Pippa Middleton, Princess Catherine's sister, was found dead. Emergency services were called to a Gloucestershire mansion owned by Kingston's parents, where Kingston's body was found. He was 45 years old. Information about the cause of Kingston's death was not immediately available. While it was revealed that his death is not considered suspicious, an inquest will be conducted by a coroner on March 1, as a court official revealed in a statement to Us Weekly.

While the world is waiting to learn what exactly happened to Kingston, you may want to take a moment and look back at his life and his connections to the royal family. After all, he'd been only a few degrees of separation from the seat of English power for more than a decade. Who, exactly, was Thomas Kingston?

Thomas Kingston graduated from Bristol University, having studied economic history, and went on to work for Britain's Foreign Office in the Diplomatic Missions Unit. This involved relocating to Baghdad, where he assisted in a number of aspects related to Britain's ongoing participation in the Iraq War. In Iraq, Kingston was a hostage negotiator who was able to go between Iraq's political, religious, and tribal leaders.

In addition to his work for the Foreign Office, Kingston helped out at St. George's Church, the only Anglican church in Iraq. He worked under Reverend Canon Andrew White, who told the Daily Mail in 2019, "Tom is one of the most remarkable people I have ever worked with and I would have him back at my side tomorrow, if he would come." The priest described his former charge as an "adrenaline junkie" who was able to "see beyond the impossible" with regards to how big they could grow the church. Ultimately, they wound up ministering to a crowd of 6,500 people in Baghdad.

One day in 2004, they entered the church just before a suicide bomber detonated an explosive outside. According to Al Jazeera, the blast and a subsequent bombing outside of the nearby St Matthew's Catholic church killed multiple people.

After Thomas Kingston returned to England, his friends suspected that his time in Iraq impacted his personality. One friend told the Daily Mail, "He's one of those guys who can be quite enigmatic and doesn't tell you what he is thinking. He's careful. Perhaps it's a legacy from the work he was doing in Iraq."

Perhaps seeking a quieter life than the one he'd led in the middle of a war zone, Kingston settled into the upper-crust world of British finance. In 2006, Kingston began working for Schroder's Asset Management, where his department managed more than $8 billion in assets, a profile in The Telegraph revealed. Six years later, he left for a new job as a managing director at Voltan Capital Management. This required Kingston to travel frequently, visiting Africa, Asia, and the Middle East once again.

In 2017, Kingston became a director at a private equity firm, Devonport Capital, according to the company's website. This is the job that Kingston held at the time of his death seven years later, in 2024.

Thomas Kingston first caught the attention of royal watchers when he briefly dated Pippa Middleton, Princess Catherine's sister. The two were first spotted together at the ATP Tennis Finals in 2011, less than a year after Pippa went ultra viral thanks to her participation in her sister's royal wedding. She had also just split from Alex Loudon, meaning fans were eager to see who she'd date next. "Pippa met Alex through mutual friends and he worked in finance. This is just the same — she has an obvious type," one source told the outlet. 

Although their romantic relationship didn't last long, the two remained close friends after splitting up. In 2013, they were photographed having a night out at ritzy London restaurant Le Caprice. The following year, they were pictured grabbing drinks together and sharing a platonic goodbye smooch. In 2017, Kingston even attended Pippa's wedding to James Matthews.

Pippa's friends seem to have liked Kingston. One once told the Daily Mail, "Tom is utterly charming, polite and very popular with the ladies. In fact, he is just the kind of guy you would want to introduce to your mother." A friend of Kingston's told the same outlet, "Tom's great achievement is that none of his old girlfriends have anything but nice things to say about him. Even when it's all over, they still like him." That seems to have undoubtedly been the case for Pippa.

In 2018, Buckingham Palace announced that Lady Gabriella Windsor, daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, was engaged to be married to Thomas Kingston. The couple met four years earlier through mutual friends. "The engagement took place in August; Mr Kingston proposed on the Isle of Sark," the Palace revealed in a statement (via Daily Mail).

Their royal wedding was held the following spring at St. George's Chapel, part of Windsor Castle. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace revealed that the chapel had "personal significance" for Lady Gabriella, as she'd been to Windsor many times with her family (via Express). Just the year before, St. George's Chapel was the site of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, followed some months later by Princess Eugenie's nuptials with Jack Brooksbank. According to Tatler, Lady Gabriella's wedding dress was designed by Luisa Beccaria, an Italian designer, and she donned the Kent City of London tiara, which Princess Michael wore on her own wedding day.

Like those other royal weddings, Kingston and Gabriella's May 2019 ceremony boasted a seriously stacked guest list. Kingston's ex-girlfriend, Pippa Middleton, was in attendance, proving that they remained good friends after breaking up. Key members of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, and Princess Anne, were in attendance.

The news of Thomas Kingston's death surprised his friends — some of whom had recently seen Kingston and Lady Gabriella Windsor out and about on the London social scene. A week before he died, Kingston and his wife attended an event at the National Gallery, a museum in Trafalgar Square. A friend who saw the couple at the event told the Daily Mail, "They seemed happy and positive as ever. Ella was particularly chatty."

As the couple's social circle learned the tragic news, the primary emotion felt was disbelief. A different friend told the outlet, "'It's utterly shocking. None of us saw it coming. I cannot understand it."

Other friends spoke with The Times about Kingston, memorializing him as "a wonderful guy" who took care of the people around him. In fact, one remembered Kingston as someone who prioritized others, "perhaps at the expense of his own well-being and mental health." The Times reported that the couple had not told friends about difficulties — neither romantic nor financial — in their relationship. Another friend focused on Kingston's love for his wife, pointing out, "They remained childless but were happily married until the end."

Thomas Kingston's friends weren't the only ones to offer public remembrances after his death. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson released a statement detailing the reactions of King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort, to the news."The King and The Queen have been informed of Thomas's death and join Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and all those who knew him in grieving a much-loved member of the family," the spokesperson said (via People). "In particular, Their Majesties send their most heartfelt thoughts and prayers to Gabriella and to all the Kingston family."

A statement was also issued on behalf of Lady Gabriella Windsor and her family, which read, in part, "Tom was an exceptional man who lit up the lives of all who knew him. His death has come as a great shock to the whole family, and we ask you to respect our privacy as we mourn his passing."

Lady Gabriella's parents, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, attended a memorial service for King Constantine of Greece, Prince William's godfather, on the same day Kingston's death was announced. Prince William was due to appear at the same event, but he pulled out due to a "personal matter," according to the BBC; however, the publication revealed that his cancelation did not appear to be related to Kingston's death.