A remarkable discovery has emerged from beneath the walls of London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital: a time capsule sealed by Princess Diana in 1991 has been unearthed to make way for a new children’s cancer centre. What was intended to lie hidden for centuries instead resurfaced after more than three decades, offering a poignant journey back to the early 1990s.
The capsule, a lead-lined wooden box, had been buried during a foundation-stone ceremony for the hospital’s Variety Club Building, where Princess Diana, serving as hospital president, took part in a BBC “Blue Peter” project that asked children to propose meaningful items to represent their era. The selected contents, reflecting the spirit of the time, were chosen by two young winners of the contest, Sylvia Foulkes and David Watson.
Upon opening, the capsule revealed a mixtape of ’90s culture and technology: a pocket-sized television, a solar-powered calculator, a holographic snowflake, a sheet of recycled paper, coins, tree seeds from Kew Gardens, a European passport, and a CD of Kylie Minogue’s 1990 album Rhythm of Love. A contemporary copy of The Times, a photograph of Diana, and letters from the two children were also included.
Despite over thirty years underground, most items remained remarkably well-preserved—though some showed minor water damage. Archivists were able to recover and assess the contents, with the capsule evoking memories of earlier technology that now feels quaint or even playful.
For many on site, the event carried deep emotional resonance. Janet Holmes, a senior health play specialist who was working at the hospital in 1991, reflected on the moment: “Seeing the pocket TV again brought back so many memories. I had bought one for my husband… They were very expensive then!” Rochana Redkar, a clinical fellow born in 1991, expressed similar sentiments: “I had just joined the hospital six months ago, and it felt surreal to be involved in unearthing something buried the year I was born.”
Jason Dawson, Executive Director of Space and Place at GOSH, described the opening as “really quite moving… almost like connecting with memories of things planted by a generation gone by.”
This rediscovery echoes a similar royal tradition at GOSH: in 1872, Princess Alexandra—then Princess of Wales—laid a separate time capsule during another building foundation ceremony. That capsule, containing a copy of The Times and a photograph of Queen Victoria, has never been located.
In keeping with the theme of legacy and reflection, the hospital plans to seal a new time capsule beneath the forthcoming cancer centre. The project continues the tradition of preserving messages from the present for future generations to reflect on—just as Princess Diana’s time capsule has done.
