King Charles III is the Royal Patron of GOSH

29/05/2024

His Majesty King Charles III has become the Royal Patron of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.  

The King accepted the Royal Patronage of GOSH earlier this month as part of the celebrations to mark the first anniversary of the Coronation. 

He takes on the duty from his mother Queen Elizabeth II, who became the Royal Patron in 1965. GOSH has a long connection with the Royal Family, with Queen Victoria being the first Patron of the hospital.  

 

King Charles and GOSH  

 

King Charles III has a long-standing history with our hospital. 

 

He conducted the annual prizegiving ceremony for the Charles West School of Nursing in 1978. 

  

He also visited GOSH in 1987 prior to the launch of the ‘Wishing Well Appeal’ (1987-89), which funded construction of what we now know to be the Variety Club Building. He showed great commitment to this appeal, later on attending the commemoration service for the appeal at Westminster Abbey in 1989. The ‘Wishing Well Appeal’, amongst other things, saw the creation of a cookbook compiled by the mother of a previous patient – which included a Royal preface.  

Matthew Shaw, Chief Executive of GOSH, said: “We are delighted that King Charles is the new Patron of GOSH. It is a huge honour to once again have the monarch of our country in such an important role. We look forward to warmly welcoming him back to Great Ormond Street. We would love to show the King how much has changed since his last visit. His support will be a real lift to our patients and staff alike.” 

 

In more recent years, he wrote a preface for a GOSH Redevelopment Appeal brochure, which was published in 2002, and in 2006 he visited for the official opening of our Octav Botnar Wing.  

 

 

We are honoured that His Majesty King Charles III will be our Royal Patron here at GOSH.