Inquest into Thomas Kingston's death found he did not intend to take his own life
The inquest took place at Gloucestershire Coroner's Court
Last updated 3rd Dec 2024
Thomas Kingston was the husband of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent's daughter Lady Gabriella Kingston.
He was found dead at his family home in February this year with a gun next to his body.
Thomas’s cause of death was confirmed to be the result of a traumatic wound to the head.
Kingston had returned to his Cotswolds home to celebrate his nieces birthday and has been described as being on good form.
The inquest opened with an emotional witness statement from Thomas’s father, who tried to fight back tears as he recounted the hours leading up to his sons death, and the moment he found his body.
He told the court it was out of character for Thomas to not plan ahead and confirmed he had not left a will or note behind.
Kingston Sr described how he had in depth conversations with Thomas’s Wife, Lady Gabriella, his closest friends and his business partner to find out if there had been anything linked to his death that he was unaware of.
His wife Lady Gabriella of Kent told of how they had spoken on the phone the night before, had a positive conversation and that he'd not expressed any suicidal thoughts.
The only difference she noticed in the weeks leading up to his death was that he had been waking up later in the day and seemed hungover even though he hadn’t consumed alcohol.
These effects were a result of medication he had recently been prescribed to help with his sleeping.
Professor David Healy told the court that the Zopiclone Kingston had been taking could lead to rebound insomnia and anxiety, making his existing anxiety heightened.
Kingston was then prescribed the anti-depressant Sertraline to help cope with the anxiety which Professor Healy says was not the appropriate treatment.
Kingston became agitated on the Sertraline and stopped taking the medication and returned to his GP where he was prescribed another type of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medication.
Professor Healy told the court Kingston should not have been switched from one type of SSRI to another if he had adverse reactions to the first one.
Healy made clear that he did not think it was the GP’s fault but the fault of the advice GP’s follow, as they encourage patients to persist with a medication. He says this advice should be altered.
The coroner agreed with this sentiment and stated that her two main points of concern are whether there is adequate information about the risks of suicidal ideation on the medication Kingston was taking and whether doctors advice should be altered to not recommend patients persist with taking medication if it makes them agitated.