Princess Diana’s Time Capsule Unearthed at London Hospital, Revealing Memorabilia from 1991

A time capsule, sealed by Princess Diana in 1991, has been unearthed during construction of a new cancer center at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) in London. Workers, either born in 1991 or employed at the hospital that year, carefully extracted the capsule containing artifacts ranging from a pocket-sized television to Kylie Minogue’s CD and tree seeds.

Janet Holmes, Senior Health Play Specialist at GOSH since 1991, fondly recalled her favorite item – the pocket TV. “It brought back memories seeing the pocket TV in there – I had bought one for my husband when he was a coach driver,” she shared.

In 1989, Diana served as president of GOSH and often visited children at the hospital. She attended the time capsule ceremony in March 1991 when GOSH laid its foundation for the Variety Club Building. Two winners of a national competition contributed items to the capsule, representing life in the 1990s, such as a solar-powered calculator, British coins, a snowflake hologram, recycled paper, and a European passport.

Rochana Redkar, Clinical Fellow in Paediatric Haematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at GOSH, was thrilled to participate in the unearthing. “Being part of this event was wonderful. I had only joined GOSH six months prior and was excited to be involved in the removal of the time capsule that was buried the year I was born!” she said.