Breaking: Royals rally around grieving Lady Gabriella as she takes part in Royal Ascot carriage procession

Lady Gabriella Windsor appeared in the carriage procession at Royal Ascot today, making her first official public appearance since the tragic death of her husband, Thomas Kingston in February.

The event will have been particularly poignant for the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent as she attended the society race event last year with her late husband.

War hero and financier Kingston died by suicide on February 25th at the age of 45 at his parents’ home in the Cotswolds.

Today, as grieving Gabriella, who was still wearing her wedding and engagement rings, attended the first day of Ascot, she was pictured arriving in a carriage accompanied by Princess Anne, and her son Peter Phillips. 

The royal family have proved a strong beacon of support for the 43-year-old in recent months, and today was no different, with an image showing King Charles’ niece Zara Tindall warmly embracing Gabriella.

Meanwhile, at another point, Lady Gabriella was seen speaking with Princess Eugenie, who was among the members of The Firm who attended the equestrian event.

While today marked her first official public appearance, Ella, as she is known by friends, made a low-key appearance at Trooping the Colour at the weekend, after being invited by the King.

She was seen watching the parade with family inside the palace, including her brother, Lord Frederik Windsor and his wife, Sophie Winkleman, whom she stood next to.

Lady Gabriella was photographed observing the performance behind Princess Anne, her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Lawrence and the Duke of Kent.

Lady Gabriella hung back from the balcony and watched the RAF flypast from inside Buckingham Palace.

Along with other junior royals, Ella had made regular appearances on the balcony until the arrival of Covid-19 in early 2020.

For Saturday’s event, Lady Gabriella put on an elegant display in a light pink ensemble and matching fascinator.

Her appearance comes after her husband was found to have died from a ‘traumatic head wound’, an inquest heard in March. His death was not being treated as suspicious, and no one else was involved.

Lady Gabriella and her husband were last pictured in public together on Valentine’s Day at an event to celebrate the works of William Shakespeare.

At the inquest, the coroner’s court was told the circumstances surrounding Kingston’s death.

‘His father went out to walk the dogs. On his return Mr Kingston was not in the house. After approximately 30 minutes his mother went to look for him,’ said Katy Skerrett, the senior coroner for Gloucestershire.

She added: ‘His father forced entry into a locked outbuilding. Mr Kingston was found inside with a catastrophic head injury. A gun was present at the scene. Police are satisfied the death is not suspicious.’

The coroner said a post-mortem examination had been undertaken and a provisional cause of death had been determined as a traumatic wound to the head. She formally opened the inquest into the death and adjourned it.