From the BBC:
“Queen
makes surprise visit to open new Maidenhead hospice”
(The Queen
signed the visitor's book during a visit to officially open the new Thames
Hospice building)
The Queen has
made a surprise visit to a hospice with the Princess Royal to officially open
its new centre. The monarch travelled from her Windsor Castle home to
Maidenhead to tour the Thames Hospice to meet staff, volunteers and a patient. The
hospice provides palliative and end-of-life care and support to people across
East Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire. Its services are free for those who
need care. More than 50% of its £13m annual running costs come from charitable
support.
(Queen
Elizabeth II stands with Jonathan Jones, chair of trustees, after unveiling a
plaque)
The Queen's
visit to the £22m centre - which features 28 private inpatient rooms - was not
listed as an official engagement. Just as she was introduced to Graham White
and his wife Pat, who has stage 4 cancer and is receiving respite care at the
centre, his phone rang. The Queen quipped: "Typical, a phone goes off
immediately." He sheepishly turned off his phone and said it was his son
ringing.
(The Queen met
patient Pat White during the visit)
Mrs White,
from Sandhurst, Berkshire, chatted with the Queen and described the encounter
as "very emotional", adding: "This is a memory that I will
treasure." She joked about her husband's phone ringing, saying: "I
could have killed him. People think the Queen is all stiff upper lip but she
has a sense of humour." Mr White said: "I turned my wife's phone off
and I could have sworn mine was off - that was a bit embarrassing." The
former Windsor site of Thames Hospice was opened by the Queen in 1987 and past
visitors have included Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sophie, Countess of
Wessex. On Tuesday, the Queen celebrated the achievements of the NHS across the
decades by awarding the institution the George Cross during a ceremony she
hosted at Windsor. The 96-year-old head of state was joined by the Prince of
Wales for the event, where health leaders from the four home nations were each
awarded the medal.
^ I am happy
to see the Queen out in public, but its sad that it is at a Hospice (sad not
because of her visit, but because of what a Hospice is.) ^
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