A colour television which could fit in your pocket and Kylie Minogue‘s third album have been unearthed in a time capsule buried by Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1991.
The container – sealed within the main entrance at London‘s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) – has been dug up early as the construction of a new children’s cancer centre begins.
Other memorabilia in the capsule included a solar-powered calculator, tree seeds in a bottle and a collection of each British coin up to the value of £1 to mark the 20th anniversary of decimalisation.
Its contents was provided by two young people who won a national competition hosted by the BBC‘s Blue Peter, where children were asked to suggest eight items that represented life in the 1990s.
Although much of the memorabilia suffered damage by moisture, the final three pieces included as part of the contest were a sheet of recycled paper, a European passport and a snowflake hologram.
A copy of the day’s Times newspaper, to mark the date the capsule was buried, was also found in the container.
A colour television which could fit in your pocket and Kylie Minogue’s third album have been unearthed in a time capsule buried by Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1991. Above: The Casio LCD portable colour television that was part of a time capsule buried by Princess Diana
Minogue’s Rhythm of Love – released in November 1990 – was the singer’s third studio album, and included hits such as Better the Devil You Know and Step Back In Time
The main front page stories reading: ‘US rejects Iraqi warplanes plea as rebels close in’; and: ‘Cooked meats bring out Soviet voters in droves’.
Diana buried the container as part of a ceremony in March 1991 at Great Ormond Street to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the Variety Club Building, which she opened later in 1994.
The ceremony mirrored one in 1872 where the then-Princess of Wales, Alexandra, laid the foundation stone of the older hospital building and sealed a time capsule, which has never been found.
Staff at the hospital, either born in 1991 or already working at the hospital in 1991, helped to remove Diana’s capsule.
She became the president of GOSH in 1989 and regularly visited the specialist children’s hospital.
Just a few months after burying the capsule, her son Prince William, then eight years old, spent two nights in GOSH with his parents after suffering a fractured skull following a blow to the head from a golf club.
A photo of Diana laying the foundation stone at Great Ormond Street in March 1991. The image was among the buried objects
The time capsule that was buried by Princess Diana. On its front is the original plaque
A selection of coins that were buried as part of the time capsule
The items in the time capsule that was buried by Princess Diana
A passport that was put into the time capsule, which has been opened 34 years later
The solar-powered calculator that was put into the time capsule buried by Princess Diana
A snowflake hologram, one of the items buried in the time capsule
A piece of recycled paper, one of the items put in the time capsule
A vial of tree seeds put into the time capsule that was buried by Princess Diana
A copy of The Times that went into the time capsule in 1991
A computer-generated image of the new cancer centre at the hospital
The container – sealed within the main entrance at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) – has been dug up early as the construction of a new children’s cancer centre begins
Minogue’s Rhythm of Love – released in November 1990 – was the singer’s third studio album, and included hits such as Better the Devil You Know and Step Back In Time.
The Casio handheld colour television was used primarily by those wanting to watch TV on the go.
During her visit to GOSH in March 1991, Diana remarked to a patient and her father that she wanted a daughter.
She told them: ‘I would love a little girl’.
The Princess added: ‘I am wondering whether the world is ready for another me’.
Janet Holmes, senior health play specialist, who was working at GOSH in 1991, shared her favourite item from the capsule: ‘It brought back so many memories seeing the pocket TV in there.
‘I had bought one for my husband back in the day, for when he had a break whilst driving his coach around the country. They were very expensive then!’
The capsule was opened earlier this year as GOSH started its project to develop a new children’s cancer centre.
The hospital says the centre will be a ‘national resource for the treatment of childhood cancers, with a focus on research and innovation’.
