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3d ago

Princess Diana’s 1991 Time Capsule Unearthed at Great Ormond Street Hospital

The early excavation clears space for a new Children’s Cancer Centre at GOSH, underpinning a £300 million fundraising drive.

Princess Diana attends the sealing of a time capsule at a children's hospital in London in March 1991.
Items from a 1991 time capsule at a children's hospital in London.
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Overview

  • The lead-encased box, removed during redevelopment, revealed a pocket TV, a Kylie Minogue CD, a solar-powered calculator, British coins, tree seeds, a European passport, a copy of The Times, and a photograph of Diana.
  • The cache was curated via a BBC Blue Peter competition by children David Watson and Sylvia Foulkes, with Diana taking part in the 1991 sealing ceremony.
  • Several items showed moisture damage, and archivists are restoring affected letters while most objects remain identifiable.
  • Staff who were born in 1991 or worked at the hospital that year were invited to help remove the capsule, an experience officials described as moving.
  • The forthcoming centre is billed as a national resource for childhood cancer care, and the hospital plans a new time capsule to continue a royal tradition dating to 1872, whose earlier capsule has not been found.