Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank carried out their first royal engagement as a married couple on Thursday with a visit to a hospital in Greater London that’s close to both their hearts.
The pair joined the princess’ father Prince Andrew at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) for the opening of a new building. The hospital is classed as the UK’s largest leading orthopaedic hospital and was where Eugenie had a life-changing operation for her scoliosis when she was a young girl.
The princess looked gorgeous in a cream dress for the momentous occasion where she announced her newly appointed patronage of the hospital’s charity, a role previously held by Andrew.
The 28-year-old took to social media to share details of the visit explaining why the hospital plays such a big part in her life and her admiration for the hard-working staff who help those with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system.
Sharing a photo of her relative years ago at the hospital as well as one of herself the princess wrote: “What an honour to open the RNOH Stanmore Building today. My great grandmother visited the RNOH in 1931 and to follow in her footsteps is so special.”
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Eugenie also shared a collection of other snaps from the engagement along with details of her own experience at the hospital as a child.
“The hospital is part of who I am after being operated on when I was 12 for scoliosis,” she wrote alongside a post. “I was so lucky to have Jack come with me so I could show him where I had life changing surgery.
“For me it was a huge honour to meet the amazing patients and see the work being done to to change people’s lives. As I said in my speech today, we all share in this building because we care.”
Eugenie’s mother Sarah Ferguson also took to social media to share in the special moment, noting how proud she is of her daughter for the work she does to help others.
Posting snaps from the day the loving mum wrote: “So proud of Andrew, Eugenie and Jack today at the opening of the new Stanmore Building. Eugenie was operated on there at the age of 12 for scoliosis and my family owes the hospital so much.”
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According to Hello Magazine, Eugenie had two metal rods inserted along her spine as a child, along with two 3.8cm screws to her neck to help with the condition.
Months before she tied the knot with Jack in October, Eugenie shared an image of her X-rays for the very first time, showing the pins and rods she had put around her spine to treat her scoliosis.
Honouring International Scoliosis Awareness Day, the young royal shared the image with her thousands of Instagram followers with a heartfelt message of thanks to the RNOH.
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Read more: Princess Eugenie bravely shares never-before-seen scoliosis X-rays
Taking to social media she wrote: “Today is International Scoliosis Awareness Day and I’m very proud to share my X-rays for the very first time.
“I also want to honour the incredible staff at The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital who work tirelessly to save lives and make people better. They made me better and I am delighted to be their patron of the Redevelopment Appeal.”