A time capsule buried by Princess Diana alongside children at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has been unearthed, revealing a collection of nineties memorabilia.
Seeded in the main entrance of the hospital in March 1991 to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the hospital’s Variety Club Building, the capsule held nostalgic treasures including a Kylie CD, a solar-powered calculator, and a pocket TV.
It was meant to lie in the ground for hundreds of years – but was dug up to allow the construction of the new Children’s Cancer Centre at the hospital.
The new centre is set to become a “national resource for the treatment of childhood cancers” and has launched the hospital’s biggest-ever fundraising drive.
The contents of the time capsule were decided through a competition hosted by the BBC’s Blue Peter.
Children selected eight items that represented life in the 1990s, including a collection of British coins, some tree seeds in a bottle, a snowflake hologram, a sheet of recycled paper, and a European passport. A picture of Princess Diana was also placed inside.
It was buried in a ceremony that mirrored one in 1872 where the then Princess of Wales, Alexandra, laid the foundation stone of the older hospital building and sealed a time capsule. That time capsule has never been found.
Princess Diana became the president of GOSH in 1989 and visited regularly, including opening the Variety Club Building in 1994.
The capsule of 1990s memorabilia was intended to lie in the ground for far longer, but was unearthed early in order to build life-saving cancer facilities for children.
Items were damaged by moisture but remained intact and identifiable, providing a nostalgic throwback to 1990s England and a poignant reminder of technological developments since.
Staff at the hospital, either born in 1991 or working at the hospital in 1991, helped to remove the time capsule.
Janet Holmes, a senior health play specialist who was working at GOSH when the capsule was buried, said: “It brought back so many memories seeing the pocket TV in there – I had bought one for my husband back in the day, for when he had a break whilst driving his coach around the country. They were very expensive then!”
She was joined by her colleague Rochana Redkar, clinical fellow in paediatric haematology oncology, who said it was a “lovely” event.
“I was so excited to be involved in the removal of the time capsule, which was buried the year I was born,” she added.
It comes as the GOSH Charity launched its biggest fundraising drive ever in a bid to raise £300m to build a new Children’s Cancer Centre.
The hospital said the centre “will make it easier for clinical teams to develop kinder, more effective treatments, all delivered in a child-focused environment where children can play, learn and be with their family while at hospital”.
