Warning over cocktail of prescribed drugs taken by Thomas Kingston before he took his own life: Anti-depressants taken by Lady Gabriella Windsor’s husband are linked to suicidal side effects, doctors tell inquest

A warning has been issued over the antidepressants Kent’s son-in-law Prince and Princess Michael took ahead of his ‘sudden impulse’ decision to commit suicide.

Lady Gabriella Windsor’s 45-year-old husband, Thomas Windsor, suffered an adverse reaction to prescription medication, an inquest heard.

He died of a gunshot wound to the head at his parents’ home in the Cotswolds on February 25 this year.

The financier married Lady Gabriella in 2019 at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, with the Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, among the guests.

Now Lady Gabriella, 43, has spoken out at Gloucestershire Coroner’s Court about how people need to be warned about the effects of drugs used to treat mental illness or more people could die.

And coroner Martin Porter has raised concerns over whether doctors were given ‘sufficient advice’ about dispensing antidepressants known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), with medics also raising concerns at the hearing.

Lady Gabriella’s husband had initially been given sertraline, an antidepressant, and Zopiclone, a sleeping tablet, by a GP at the Royal Mews Surgery – a practice used by royal household staff – after complaining of sleep problems due to stress at work.

In a statement read out at the inquest by senior coroner Katy Skerrett, Lady Gabriella said: ‘(Work) was certainly a challenge for him over the years but I seriously doubt it would have led him to take his own life, and it seemed way too heavy. improved.

‘If something was bothering him, I’m sure he would have told me he was seriously struggling. The fact that he committed suicide in the home of his beloved parents suggests that the decision was the result of a sudden impulse.’

She said she believed his death was “likely provoked” by an adverse reaction to the medication he had started and then stopped taking in the weeks leading up to his death.

Mr. Kingston complained that the medication was not making him feel better and his doctor switched him from Sertraline to Citalopram, another selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) used as an antidepressant.

Lady Gabriella said: “In the absence of any evidence of propensity it seems to me very likely that he had an adverse reaction to the pills that caused him to take his own life,” Lady Gabriella said.

‘I believe that anyone taking these types of pills should be made more aware of the side effects to prevent future deaths.

“If this could happen to Tom, this could happen to anyone.”

Dr. David Healy, a psychiatric medical expert who gave evidence at the hearing, said zopiclone can also cause anxiety, while sertraline and citalopram are both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and are essentially the same.

Dr. Healy said Mr Kingston’s complaints that sertraline continued to make him anxious were a sign that SSRIs were ‘not right for him’, and that he should not have been prescribed the same thing again.

He said the guidelines and labels for SSRIs weren’t clear enough about how to use the drugs in the first place, or what the effect might be if you switched from one to the other.

“We need a much more explicit statement saying that these drugs can cause people to commit suicide who otherwise would not have done so,” he said.

Martin Porter, counsel for the family, told the coroner: ‘The family does not blame (his GP) Dr Naunton Morgan – she behaved as good doctors do.

‘But the question is whether there is enough advice for doctors about SSRIs.’

In the days leading up to his death, Mr. Kingston had stopped taking medications, and toxicology tests revealed caffeine and small amounts of zopiclone in his system.

In his final weeks, Lady Gabriella said, her husband had “seemed normal”, except early in the day after he had previously taken zopiclone, which she said made him appear “almost hungover”.

In her statement, she described their marriage as “deeply loving and trusting” and said he had never expressed suicidal thoughts to her or others.

She added that he was deeply affected by the suicide of a friend and the “devastating impact it had on other people’s loved ones.”

Mr Kingston’s father, William Martin Kingston, broke down in tears as he described finding his son in the locked bathroom of a detached outbuilding after using a crowbar to break open the door.

He told the court that his son had always had a strong, resilient character, having previously suffered from a pain disorder that required him to get help from standing.

Mr Kingston added that there did not appear to have been any search for suicide in the run-up to his son’s death, and that no will or note was left, describing the method as ‘very shabby’ and simply ‘ beyond the earth’.

Recording a narrative conclusion, Gloucestershire senior coroner Mrs Skerrett said: ‘Mr Kingston took his own life with a shotgun causing a serious traumatic wound to the head.

“The evidence from his wife, family and business partner all supports his lack of suicidal intent. He was suffering from the side effects of medications that had recently been prescribed to him.”

Lady Gabriella paid tribute to her husband in a joint statement with his family after his death, describing him as an ‘exceptional man who lit up the lives of all who knew him’.

They described his death as a ‘big shock for the whole family’.

The King and Queen sent their “most sincere thoughts and prayers” to Lady Gabriella, known as Ella, and Mr Kingston’s parents and siblings.

About 140 close friends and family, including Prince William, Lady Gabriella’s parents, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and Princess Alexandra, gathered at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace in London on March 12 for Mr Kingston’s funeral.

Lady Gabriella is the King’s second cousin and they are both great-grandchildren of King George V.

Mr Kingston was a director of Devonport Capital, which specialized in providing financing to companies in frontier economies.

The University of Bristol graduate had also worked in the Iraqi capital Baghdad to secure the release of hostages after joining the Foreign Office’s diplomatic missions unit.

Prof. Joanna Moncrieff, professor of critical and social psychiatry at University College London, warned of the potentially harmful effects of taking antidepressants – but also warned people to be careful and seek advice if they come off them.

She told MailOnline: ‘It has been recorded that some people can have a reaction to SSRIs and other antidepressants – they can become quite irritable and are more likely to have suicidal thoughts.

‘And people are known to experience quite severe withdrawal symptoms.

‘Those who have started taking these medications should be warned of the possible consequences. There needs to be a proper discussion with doctors about whether they are worth it. The consequences may be uncertain; the benefits of antidepressants are uncertain.

‘But people should certainly not suddenly get rid of it. If patients do want to get rid of it, they must do so safely, under the supervision of doctors.’

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