Thomas Kingston, the husband of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent’s daughter Lady Gabriella Kingston, died from a “traumatic head wound” and a gun was found near to his body, an inquest has heard.

The 45-year-old financier died suddenly in an outbuilding at his parent’s home, an inquest opening at Gloucestershire Coroner’s Court heard.

Senior coroner Katy Skerrett said: “These brief circumstances are as follows. Mr Kingston was visiting his parents’ home in the Cotswolds. On 25 February he ate lunch with his parents. His father went out to walk the dogs.

“On his return Mr Kingston was not in the house and after approximately 30 minutes his mother went to look for him. His father forced entry on a locked outbuilding when no reply could be gained.

“He found Mr Kingston deceased with a catastrophic head injury. A gun was present at the scene. Emergency services were called. Police are satisfied the death is not suspicious.”

Ms Skerrett added that a post-mortem had found his provisional cause of death was a traumatic wound to head.

She then adjourned the inquest to a later date yet to be fixed.

Gloucestershire Police previously said officers were called to the scene by an ambulance crew just before 6.30pm on Sunday.

No funeral plans have been publicly released so far.

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Lady Gabriella and Mr Kingston’s family said previously in a joint statement that his death came as a “great shock” and described him as a “beloved husband, son and brother”.

They added: “Tom was an exceptional man who lit up the lives of all who knew him.”

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The King and Queen sent their “most heartfelt thoughts and prayers” to Lady Gabriella, Mr Kingston’s parents, and siblings.

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

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, were among the guests at the couple’s wedding, at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, in 2019.

Mr Kingston was a close friend of Pippa Matthews – the Princess of Wales‘s sister – and the pair were reported to have dated in 2011.

He was director of Devonport Capital, which specialises in providing finance for companies in “frontier economies”.

He had also worked in Baghdad, Iraq, to help obtain the release of hostages after joining the diplomatic missions unit of the foreign office.

Lady Gabriella, who is not a working member of the royal family, is a writer and contributing editor who previously worked as an arts and travel director for a brand company.

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