Lady Gabriella Windsor’s parents, Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Michael of Kent, attended King Constantine’s memorial service in Windsor on Tuesday, just two days after their son-in-law had been found dead. Lady Gabriella was not at the memorial service and neither was her brother Freddie Windsor. In retrospect, I think it was actually quite odd that the Kents came out – it would not have been a huge story if they skipped, as they’ve been semi-retired from royal life for a few years now. Plus, the bigger story ended up being Prince William’s absence, but they wouldn’t have known that as they prepared to go to the service. Anyway, I found this Telegraph piece really interesting – sources say that the Kents hoped to keep Thomas Kingston’s death a secret for another day:
The presence of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent at a memorial service for an esteemed friend of the Royal family went almost unnoticed on Tuesday. Dressed in black coats, the Princess keeping warm with a fur collar tied with a ribbon, they blended in seamlessly with the British and European royals flocking to commemorate the life of King Constantine of Greece.
They sat in the second row, occasionally exchanging words and studying their orders of service. At one point, Princess Michael raised her eyes skywards to take in the glories of St George’s Chapel, the site of so many special occasions.
Their son in law, Mr. Thomas Kingston, had died suddenly two days earlier at the age of 45. The news had not yet been announced, and all had hoped to keep it private a little longer to allow their beloved Ella to grieve.
The epitome of their “keep calm and carry on” generation, Prince and Princess Michael chose to honour their commitment to the man known to them as Tino, so as not to raise suspicions about their absence. The decision, it is understood, was made with their family. Lady Ella was a goddaughter of King Constantine and would otherwise have been there.
Her brother Lord Frederick Windsor, and his wife Sophie Winkleman, also did not attend the service, believed to be comforting her and helping with the practicalities of such tragically early widowhood.
A source confirmed that Prince and Princess Michael were aware of Mr Kingston’s death, but did not want to cause alarm or raise questions by their absence.
In the event, attention was drawn to the service by a different absence – that of the Prince of Wales who pulled out at the last minute citing a “personal matter” that Kensington Palace would not explain. While the congregation assembled at Windsor Castle, some travelling in by coach, news of the Kingston family tragedy began to spread among them. Those who knew him and loved Lady Ella since birth composed themselves in front of the world’s media, paying their respects at an hour-long service before retreating for a private reception.
At 81 and 79 respectively, Prince and Princess Michael afforded the final respect to King Constantine by refusing to allow his memorial to be derailed. They also bought a little time for their daughter before her news was made public. It was the sort of duty, personal sacrifice and stiff upper lip expected by the late Queen Elizabeth’s generation. As one observer could not help but remark upon, it would have been deeply appreciated by her, the Greek royal family and most probably the King as well.
It had been hoped that public confirmation of Mr Kingston’s death could wait until the next day. But in an imperfect world, the spreading whispers meant it had to come sooner.
While we’ll never know for sure, I feel pretty comfortable saying that in most media/royalist circles, the Kents’ absence would not have been some huge deal. I don’t even believe they were featured in the program, unlike Prince William. That seems to be the real issue here, and it’s been underlined in several commentary pieces – the Kents kept a stiff upper lip and did their duty, even though their daughter had just lost her husband, and Prince William was too drunk/lazy to attend the service. I also find it odd that the Kents really thought that they could keep a lid on the news for days longer, and that the “whispers” about Kingston’s death started right after… the Kents told people at the memorial service. Guess someone in Windsor world thought announcing Kingston’s death would be a good way to deflect from William’s absence… but instead it brought up even more questions.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.