Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston's royal wedding: who are the soon-to-be married couple?
As if the Royal family didn't have enough to celebrate already, this weekend marks the third royal nuptials in a year; the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor to Thomas Kingston.
On Saturday May 18, the couple will tie the knot in Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel, just as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did on the same weekend last year.
The ceremony will be conducted by the Dean of Windsor, The Right Revd David Conner.
Here's your guide to who's who at the latest royal wedding.
Who is Lady Gabriella Windsor?
Lady Gabriella Marina Alexandra Ophelia Windsor – also known as 'Ella' – is the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and is the Queen's first cousin once removed. Following the birth of Harry and Meghan's son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor last week, she is 52nd in line to the throne.
Lady Gabriella is believed to be the oldest first-time royal bride in recent years; having turned 38 in April after spending many years forging a successful career for herself.
She studied at Brown University in the US before graduating from both Brown and Oxford with degrees in Comparative Literature and Social Anthropology.
Like Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, Gabriella is not a 'working royal' and is therefore able to dedicate time to her career path of choice – working as an arts and travel director for communication agency Branding Latin America, based in Knightsbridge. She is also a board director for Playing for Change Foundation, an arts education body, and has previously written for various newspapers and magazines, including the Telegraph.
She endured unexpected public attention last year thanks to a Vanity Fair article by her former boyfriend Aatish Taseer, who detailed a lurid account of their time together at Kensington Palace.
Lady Gabriella’s father, Prince Michael, is the Queen’s cousin and regularly represents the Royal family at public engagements. Her mother, Princess Michael, is an author who has been nicknamed “Princess Pushy” for her forthright views.
Her older brother, Lord Frederick 'Freddie' Windsor, is married to Peep Show actress Sophie Winkleman (aka 'Big Suze') and the pair have two children Maud, five, and Isabella, three.
Who is Thomas Kingston?
Thomas 'Tom' Kingston is a 40-year-old financier and director of Devonport Capital, a firm specialising in providing finance for companies in "frontier economies".
After graduating from Bristol University with a bachelor's degree in economic history, Kingston joined the Diplomatic Missions Unit of the United Kingdom's Foreign Office, and in 2003, he moved to Baghdad where he worked to procure the release of hostages.
After nearly three years, Kingston then made a career shift towards finance, working as an equity analyst for global asset management firm Schroders. He then ascended the financial ladder to become managing director of Voltan Capital Management until April 2017.
By the Palace's own accounts, he now "works in frontier market investment and is a Director of Devonport Capital."
Thomas was rumoured to have dated the Duchess of Cambridge's younger sister Pippa Middleton in 2011, following her split from cricketer Alex Loudon. The pair have remained friends and Pippa invited both Thomas and Gabriella to her wedding to investment banker James Matthews in 2017.
Thomas and Lady Gabriella have been dating for a number of years and he proposed while they were on the Isle of Sark last August.
Who will attend the wedding?
Lady Gabriella and Thomas Kingston's nuptials mark the third royal wedding in the 15th-century St George Chapel in less than a year.
Compared to the high profile ceremonies of both the Duke and Duchess of Sussex almost a year ago, and Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's last October, we expect this to be a far more low-key, private affair and it won't be broadcast on TV.
Nonetheless, the most senior royal in attendance will be The Queen and many other family members are expected to be there.
Though we'd expect the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to attend ordinarily, the care of their newborn baby boy – Archie Mountbatten-Windsor – is likely to take priority.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are also expected to attend, although the wedding clashes with the FA Cup Final which Prince William usually attends in his role as President of the Football Association.
Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews will undoubtedly have received a reciprocal wedding invite.
Lady Gabriella's parents and brother 'Freddie' will also attend; the latter with his wife Sophie.
St George's Chapel
The couple have opted for St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle to hold the ceremony, the same location the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank chose for their 2018 weddings.
St George's Chapel has been a venue for royal weddings since the future King Edward VII married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863.
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, married Sophie Rhys-Jones - now the Countess of Wessex - there in 1999. Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, married Autumn Kelly in the chapel in 2008.
The Prince of Wales also celebrated his marriage to the Duchess of Cornwall there in 2005 with a service of dedication and prayer led by then-Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
Tucked away within the grounds of Windsor Castle, it is a more low-key venue than central London alternatives Westminster Abbey, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge got married, or St Paul's Cathedral, the choice of Prince Harry's parents Prince Charles and Diana.
While its original building dates back to the 13th century, the chapel as seen today began with King Edward IV in 1483.
