Tributes to 'fearless' Iraq hostage negotiator Thomas Kingston

From hostage negotiating in Iraq to joining the ranks of the royals, Thomas Kingston led an eventful life.

The 45-year-old went from surviving repeated attacks in Baghdad during his time serving the Foreign Office, to years later entering the royal family through his marriage to Lady Gabriella Kingston, the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

Described as a “brave and exceptional” man, the talented globetrotter had the world at his feet.

An inquest into his death is opening on Friday.

His wife paid tribute to her “exceptional man who lit up the lives of all who knew him”, describing his death as a “great shock”.

The son of devout Christians, Mr Kingston, whose nickname at Bristol University was “Christian Tom”, joined the Foreign Office and was posted to Baghdad between 2003 and 2006 as the project manager for the International Centre for Reconciliation, based at Coventry Cathedral.

He was given the challenging role of mediating between political and tribal leaders as well as negotiating the release of hostages.

Working as an aide to Cannon Andrew White, known as the Vicar of Baghdad because he ran St George’s Church, the only Anglican church in Iraq, he was entrusted with carrying out parish work in often dangerous situations.

In one instance he narrowly escaped a bombing that claimed 22 lives.

Thomas Kingston with his wife Lady Gabriella Windsor in 2023. Getty Images

Paying tribute to Mr Kingston, Dr White, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury’s special Middle East envoy, described him as his fearless friend who always had a smile on his face.

“The thing about Tom was he was never scared. Whatever I asked him to do he would do it with a big smile on his face in the middle of a war zone,” he told The Telegraph.

“We survived several suicide bomb attacks.

“We were regularly caught up in IED [improvised explosive device] attacks. Cars would blow up in front of us and we would just move on. We were always together and had 35 armed guards at all times.

“It is terrible [news] about my Tom, I loved him so much.”

Lady Gabriella released this recent personal photo of her husband, Tom Kingston Photo: Lady Gabriella Kingston / Buckingham Palace

Mr Kingston had helped him to build up his ministry to 6,500 worshippers.

Dr White originally trained at St Thomas’s Hospital in London and at one point worked alongside former eye surgeon, the current Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. In a previous interview with the Mail, he described Mr Kingston as “an exceptional young man” who “makes things happen”, whose great strength was to “see beyond the impossible”.

After his time in Iraq, Mr Kingston returned to the UK and began a career in finance.

Prior to his death he was a director of Devonport Capital, which specialises in providing finance for companies in “frontier economies”.

He met his future wife Lady Gabriella through his royal connections and in 2019 the pair married at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, with the late Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the late Duke of Edinburgh, among the guests.

Thomas Kingston and Lady Gabriella Windsor after their wedding at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle in 2019. PA

Lady Gabriella, 42, who is 56th in line to the throne, is the King’s second cousin. They are both great-grandchildren of King George V.

Buckingham Palace first broke the news of Mr Kingston’s death and led tributes.

“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,” a spokesperson for the palace said.

“In particular, their majesties send their most heartfelt thoughts and prayers to Gabriella and to all the Kingston family.”

A statement released on behalf of his family, Lady Gabriella Kingston, Mr Martin and Mrs Jill Kingston, sisters Joanna Connolly and Emma Murray, said: “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. 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.”

Britain’s King Charles III, second left, Queen Camilla, Lady Gabriella Kingston and Thomas Kingston at Royal Ascot in 2023. AP

One friend described him as “a true gentleman”.

“We are so upset about the news, everybody loved him. He was kind, charming and thoroughly decent and one of the last true English gentlemen,” she told The Telegraph.

“It is beyond tragic and so hard to get one’s head around,” said one close acquaintance.

Lady Gabriella released a recent personal photo she had taken of her husband, showing him smiling and dressed in a casual pink shirt as he stood near a stretch of water in the sunshine.

“Tom’s great achievement is that none of his old girlfriends have anything but nice things to say about him,” another friend told The Mail.

“Even when it’s all over, they still like him. In old-fashioned terms, he is a gentleman, just the kind of guy you want to introduce to your mother.”

Princess Michael of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent attend a thanksgiving service for the life of King Constantine of the Hellenes at St George’s Chapel, in Windsor Castle on Tuesday. Reuters

“They are a lovely, gentle family who do a lot for the village and the church. They are a big part of the local community,” the family’s local postmaster told The Telegraph.

“Thomas popped into the shop a lot, he would come by every so often. I last saw him a few months ago. He was a very gentle soul, just like his father. Everyone is in shock, it’s really sad and very fresh.”

Although Lady Gabriella is not a working member of the royal family, she and Mr Kingston’s family are being supported by the royal household.