The Royal family has had a bit of a tumultuous last 18 months.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II, medical issues for King Charles, and we are now learning of the death of Thomas Kingston, the husband of Lady Gabriella and former boyfriend of Pippa Middleton.
Talking Points…
- Trying times for the Crown
- Death of Kingston
- Reactions
The death of Queen Elizabeth was expected, but when someone sits on the throne for that long, the death still stings. The Queen was 96 when she died, having served as the Queen for seven decades. Her son, Charles, was waiting in the wings for decades to sit on the throne, and he finally managed to take the crown at the age of 73.
Charles had not even been on the throne for two years when questions started to arise about how long he could hold the crown. In his mid-70s, as we all know, just about anything can go wrong health-wise, and while going in for treatment of another issue, testing revealed that Charles had "some sort of cancer." Charles started treatments in February and reduced his schedule to accommodate his recovery.
This, of course, started the conversation about Charles possibly stepping down early rather than serving until his death. But something tells me they are going to have to pry that crown out of Charles' dead hands before he gives it up willingly after having waited so long for his coronation.
With all of the medical and family drama over the last few years, I am sure the Royals were hoping for things to settle down, but the complete opposite happened. On Tuesday, reports surfaced that Thomas Kingston had passed away at the age of 45.
He is Pippa Middleton's former boyfriend and is now married to Lady Gabriella, who is the daughter of Prince Michael of Kent. The couple was married in 2019. Prince Michael is a first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Lady Gabriella is not considered a "working Royal," but she is now 56th in line for the throne, 18th at the time of her birth.
According to the reports, Kingston was found dead on Sunday evening in Gloucestershire, a county in South West England. First responders arrived at the location around 6:00 p.m., and authorities reportedly noticed no suspicious circumstances at the time. His cause of death has not yet been released.
Needless to say, at that age, the death is rather shocking and took everyone by surprise. His Kingston's family made the initial announcement regarding his death, stating:
"It is with the deepest sorrow that we announce the death of Thomas Kingston, our beloved husband, son and brother. Tom was an exceptional man who lit up the lives of all who knew him.
"We ask you to respect our privacy as we mourn his passing."
Buckingham Palace also released a statement on behalf of the King and Queen, which stated:
"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.
"In particular, Their Majesties send their most heartfelt thoughts and prayers to Gabriella and to all the Kingston family."
Rest in peace, sir.
