A cousin of Princes William and Harry was found dead with a firearm next to her, an inquest heard on Sunday.

20-year-old Rosie Roche – granddaughter of Princess Diana’s uncle – was found dead by her mum and sister on July 14 – with a firearm found near to her at the family home in Wiltshire, where she had been packing for a trip away with friends. During an inquest hearing at Wiltshire and Swindon coroner’s court, area coroner Grant Davies said police “have deemed the death as non-suspicious and there was no third-party involvement”.


Princess Diana and her Aunt Mary Roche (centre) – Rosie’s grandmother (
Image:
PA)

Rosie was working towards obtaining a degree in English Literature at Durham University during the time of her death. A spokeswoman said she “will be sorely missed”. The inquest has been adjourned until October 25.

Ms Roche’s death comes after Thomas Kingston, who married Harry and William’s cousin Lady Gabriella in 2019, died in February last year aged just 45 with a firearm next to him. The financier suffered a “traumatic head wound”, and a gun was found near to his body in an outbuilding at his parents home in the Cotswolds, an inquest opening at Gloucestershire Coroners Court heard. Police said they were satisfied the death was not suspicious.


Rosie Roche, 20, is cousins with Prince Harry and William (
Image:
Getty Images)

He and Lady Gabriella didn’t seem to have any relationship or money troubles, a family friend told The Times – while another close friend shared that Mr Kingston always put others first, which might have affected his own mental health.

The former financer, who studied economic history at Bristol University, had numerous brushes with death – the most notable being a suicide bombing at the church in 2004, which claimed 22 lives. Reflecting on the event, Reverend Canon Andrew White, who ran the only Anglican church in Baghdad, Iraq, where Mr Kingston reportedly spent time as a hostage negotiator, said: “We couldn’t move, and I can remember saying ‘What do we do Tom?’

“And he said, ‘Pray’. I said, ‘Lord, have mercy on us’ and suddenly a huge oil tanker about 25 metres ahead of us blew up. If we hadn’t been in the traffic jam, we would have been killed instantly. But this was a kind of daily thing that happened.”