Thomas Kingston, 45, the son-in-law of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, was found dead at his parents’ home on Feb 25 with a “catastrophic head injury” and a gun close to his body.
Lady Gabriella, 43, who joined Kingston’s parents at his inquest at Gloucestershire coroner’s court, suggested that she wanted the circumstances of his death to act as a warning for others.
“It appears to me Tom’s impulsive action was likely provoked by an adverse reaction to the medication he had been taking in the last two weeks of his life,” she said.
“The fact that he took his own life at the home of his beloved parents, where no one else would find him, suggests the decision was the result of sudden impulse and anxious thoughts sparked by the sight of the gun in the car boot.”
Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston married in May 2019. Photo / Getty Images
The court heard Kingston had been prescribed zopiclone for trouble sleeping and sertraline for anxiety by Dr Nicky Naunton Morgan, his GP, who is apothecary to the King and Queen’s royal household.
He stopped taking the sertraline after a few days because it made him feel “very anxious” and was instead prescribed diazepam and citalopram. He also doubled his sleep medication.
Lady Gabriella, who sobbed during parts of the hearing, said: “I believe anyone taking pills such as these needs to be made more aware of the side effects to prevent any future deaths. If this could happen to Tom, this could happen to anyone.”
The coroner accepted on Tuesday that Kingston had died as a result of “a self-inflicted gunshot to the head”.
Kingston’s father, Martin, a retired barrister, broke down as he described the moment he found his son’s body after forcing his way into a locked bathroom above a garage in a detached annex at his home.
The court heard that father and son were licensed gun holders. Kingston killed himself with one of his father’s guns, which he had been returning that weekend after borrowing it for a shoot.
Martin Kingston described the extensive inquiries he conducted as he tried desperately to find an explanation, which included a “blunt” conversation with Lady Gabriella and others with his son’s business partner and friends.
“It was almost as though a switch had been turned in his mind,” he said.
“The decision appears to have been made in a matter of minutes, apparently prompted by the gun he was bringing back to us.”
The court heard that it was “entirely and fundamentally out of character” for the financier to have taken his own life without extensive planning and the tying up of loose ends. For example, he had not made a will, had booked a flight to South Africa and had spoken to his parents about visiting more regularly.
The previous day, he had attended his niece’s birthday party and had been “in his usual ebullient spirits”, enjoying a relaxed and good-humoured evening meal with his parents and showing off his new pyjamas.
His marriage to Lady Gabriella was “happy” and “a joy for them both”, his business was successful and he was planning for the future. The court heard he was emotionally mature and had previously described suicide as “a selfish act” because of the impact on those left behind.
Thomas Kingston was described as being in his usual ebullient spirits the day before his death. Photo / Getty Images
‘Cannot be a coincidence’
Martin Kingston said “it cannot be a coincidence” that three weeks before his son’s death he had started taking a range of medications to help with trouble sleeping and anxiety.
An autopsy found only caffeine and low levels of zopiclone in his blood and urine. However, Martin Kingston said sertraline could “continue to operate on someone’s thinking” even when it had passed through the system.
Dr David Healey, a medical expert, told the court that zopiclone could cause anxiety and that sertraline and citalopram were “in essence” the same drug with a different name, falling into a category of medication called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which could “have a fairly dramatic and catastrophic effect within a very short space of time”.
Healey said Kingston had recognised that the sertraline “did not suit him” but had not realised that with the citalopram,he was essentially being prescribed “the same thing again”.
The professor of psychiatry said he had been right to take himself off the drugs to give himself “the best possible chance” to get over the problems they were causing him.
He said: “If you look at the guidelines and labels, there isn’t clear enough advice about the hazards of going on the drugs in the first instance, let alone changing from one SSRI to another SSRI. We need a more explicit statement saying these drugs can cause someone to commit suicide who wouldn’t otherwise do so.”
Martin Porter, counsel for Kingston’s family, said: “The family don’t blame Dr Naunton Morgan. She was acting as good doctors do. But the question is whether there is sufficient advice to good doctors about SSRIs.”
‘Intent remains unclear’
Katy Skerrett, the senior coroner for Gloucestershire, said she would be writing to the relevant medical authorities to raise potential concerns about the risk of suicide linked to SSRIs.
She said: “I am satisfied that Tom took his own life using a shotgun. However, currently I have no evidence before me to suggest he had formed a settled intention to take his own life. To the contrary, the evidence of his wife, family and business partner all supports his lack of suicidal intent.
“Intent remains unclear, as the deceased was suffering adverse effects from medication he had been prescribed.”
The coroner said she would draft a prevention of future deaths report, raising “two key points of concern”: whether there was adequate communication of the risk of suicide on SSRIs and whether advice should be altered if such medication caused early agitation.
She said she would probably send the report to regulatory bodies including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
