Move over Harry there’s a new Windsor hunk!
He was a hostage negotiator in Iraq who survived a suicide bombing before returning to win over an army of society girls (Pippa included). As he prepares to join The Firm as Princess Michael’s son-in-law . . .
sisters, was born in Evesham, Worcestershire. His QC father, a self- made man educated at a secondary modern school, has been a hugely successful barrister specialising in planning law.
Today, the family home is a Grade II-listed manor house in Kemble, Gloucestershire, close to Prince Charles’s Highgrove.
It is from his parents that he has drawn his strong faith — in 2015, his father was elected to the General Synod of the Church of England and his mother is a trustee of a Christian healing centre in Cirencester.
Unlike many young men drawn to Iraq for the business opportunities that followed the 2003 Gulf War, Kingston was on a different mission.
Sent to Baghdad, he was seconded as a project manager for the International Centre for Reconciliation, which is based at Coventry Cathedral, to mediate in disputes between political, religious and tribal leaders and to negotiate the release of hostages.
Baghdad
was where Canon White and Tom met. ‘ Tom is an individual with a very strong faith,’ recalls the Canon. ‘It was that faith and commitment which led to us working together in Iraq, where we survived some close scrapes. They were a daily occurrence.
‘Tom has a fierce determination to make things succeed and great insight into what makes humans tick, both good and bad. He uses those to see beyond the impossible and get through to the other side.’
His work with Canon White, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, helped maintain the anglican Church in Baghdad, which was established in 1990. ‘We built up a huge following, hundreds of whom I baptised as children and who have relocated to Jordan. Tom helped me.’
The church was in a former palace of Saddam Hussein’s and the pulpit one of his thrones. ‘Those were good times,’ recalled the clergyman. ‘I think Tom would agree and we have stayed in touch by phone and email since.’
Both men were in the church when it was targeted in a suicidebomb attack in 2004.
They had walked in just before the blast, which killed two of the congregation and 20 others.
Intriguingly, Kingston was also at the time working with Prince Michael of Kent, his future fatherin-law, even though he had not at that stage met his daughter, Ella.
‘Prince Michael has a relative who is buried on the Mount of Olives. While we were working there, we located the grave for him and ensured it was properly tended,’ added Canon White.
Next week, the two friends are due to meet in London to talk through arrangements for Tom’s wedding in May. It will also be the first time Canon White meets Lady Gabriella.
‘I’m very excited — about seeing them both and about the marriage. I think both her cousins, William and Harry, who are very loyal, will be there with Kate and Meghan.’
Kingston left Baghdad to join Schroders, the private bank. He is currently a director of devonport Capital, which helps find investment for ‘frontier’ economies and those undergoing postwar reconstruction.
Meanwhile, the couple have a wedding to plan. The ceremony will be followed by a reception for around 400 at Frogmore House, where Harry and Meghan had their evening party. It is being organised by the Queen’s party planner, Lady Elizabeth anson. That evening, there will be a lively second party for the couple’s friends in London.
and Princess Michael? ‘She will be enormously proud,’ says a friend. ‘She’s been talking about being mother of the bride for more than ten years.’