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In August 2025, as London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital embarked on constructing a new children’s cancer centre, the capsule resurfaced and was gently excavated by staff members
The treasure trove included Kylie Minogue’s CD, a solar-powered calculator, British coins marking 20 years of decimalisation, a pocket TV, tree seeds from Kew Gardens, recycled paper, a European passport, a glossy hologram snowflake, a photograph of the Princess herself, and a copy of The Times. (Photograph: Great Ormond Street hospital)
It was March 1991 when Diana, the Princess of Wales and then president of London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), stood alongside two children who had won the famed Blue Peter contest and curated a box of objects with them capturing the spirit of the early 1990s.
The everyday items, selected by 11 year old David Watson and 9 year old Sylvia Foulkes with Diana’s guidance included mementos such as a pocket-sized TV, a hologram snowflake, tree seeds, and a CD by Kylie Minogue—Rhythm of Love, Guardian reported.
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The wooden container, wrapped in lead and sealed into the foundation of the hospital’s Variety Club building, was meant to lie undisturbed for centuries. However, as fate would have it, the time capsule had to be subjected to a premature unveiling.
In August 2025, as GOSH embarked on constructing a new children’s cancer centre, the capsule resurfaced and was gently excavated by staff members.
According to People.com, the treasure trove included Kylie Minogue’s CD, a solar-powered calculator, British coins marking 20 years of decimalisation, a pocket TV, tree seeds from Kew Gardens, recycled paper, a European passport, a glossy hologram snowflake, a photograph of the Princess herself, and a copy of The Times from that day with headlines echoing tense Cold War politics and Gulf War developments. Despite over three decades underground—and some water damage—the items remained remarkably intact.
“Connecting with memories planted by a generation gone by… it was really quite moving,” said Jason Dawson, the executive director overseeing the hospital’s transformation. He added that then–cutting-edge gadgets like the pocket TV now looked more like toys.
According to the Guardian, the rediscovery echoes a royal tradition. In 1872, Princess Alexandra, another Princess of Wales, laid a foundation stone at the hospital and sealed her own capsule, containing a photo of Queen Victoria and a copy of The Times, that, to date, remains lost.
Now, with the old capsule reclaimed and its message to future generations revealed, GOSH plans to continue the tradition by burying a new time capsule beneath the upcoming cancer centre.
The centre will be a “national resource of the treatment of childhood cancers” and will help clinical teams develop “kinder, more effective treatments” for children staying at the hospital, a statement said.
About the Author
Apoorva Misra is News Editor at News18.com with over nine years of experience. She is a graduate from Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College and holds a PG Diploma from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. S…Read More
Apoorva Misra is News Editor at News18.com with over nine years of experience. She is a graduate from Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College and holds a PG Diploma from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. S… Read More
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