The Duchess of Cambridge made an unannounced visit to Evelina London on Friday night, visiting patients and their families who could not attend the public Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Evelina London tweeted the news on Saturday afternoon, writing that “We received a very special surprise last night! Our Patron, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, dropped in for a private visit to meet our patients, families and staff unable to join in the celebrations this weekend.
“Luckily the hospital was already decked with Platinum Jubilee decorations made by some of the children and young people we are caring for. Thank you YRH for thinking of us.”
The Kensington Palace Twitter account replied to Evelina London’s post with a purple heart emoji.
Kate’s surprise visit comes as the royal paid a whirlwind visit to Cardiff, Wales on Saturday morning with her husband William and children Prince George and Princess Charlotte. This is the first official visit of the Cambridge children to Wales.
On Saturday, the Cambridges paid a visit to Cardiff Castle to see preparations for that afternoon’s Platinum Jubilee concert. The Welsh concert will end well before the Platinum Party at Buckingham Palace begins, which will be broadcast on big screens for concert-goers to watch.
Royal attendance at the Platinum Party at the Palace was not confirmed on Saturday morning, though the Cambridges returned swiftly to London following their visit to Wales.
Prior to Friday’s visit, Kate most recently had the opportunity to publicly meet with Evelina London officials at the Buckingham Palace garden party on 18 May. Dr Bidisha Lahoti, Evelina London’s Clinical Director for Children’s Community Services, spoke with Kate at the garden party.
“It has been a great honour to meet our Patron who is so passionate about optimising early development. She sent her best wishes to all of my colleagues who work at Evelina London,” said Dr Lahoti in a statement on the Evelina London website.
Kate became the royal patron of Evelina London in December 2018. The director of Evelina London, Marian Kelly, said “The Duchess shares our passion for giving children and young people the very best start in life and Her Royal Highness’ support will help champion the life-saving care our staff are providing to our patients.”
