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3 months ago
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More than 30 years after it was buried, a time capsule compiled by Diana, Princess of Wales and two children to represent life in the 1990s has been opened prematurely – revealing a Kylie Minogue CD, a solar-powered calculator and a passport.
The lead-encased wooden box was sealed in 1991 to mark the laying of the foundation stone of Great Ormond Street hospital’s Variety Club building, which opened in 1994 to replace outdated buildings and clinical facilities.
Two children selected 10 items to represent life in the 90s, after winning a Blue Peter competition. Other objects included a pocket TV, a snowflake hologram and a photo of Diana.
The time capsule was intended to be unearthed in “hundreds of years” but was dug up to make way for the construction of a children’s cancer centre.
Diana became president of the children’s hospital in 1989 and visited it several times before her death in 1997. She helped the two children select the items to be placed in the time capsule.
A CD of Kylie Minogue’s Rhythm of Love album was chosen by David Watson, then aged 11, from Paignton, Devon. He also selected a sheet of recycled paper and a passport.
Sylvia Foulkes, then nine, from Norwich, chose a collection of British coins, a container with five tree seeds, and the snowflake hologram.
The box also included a copy of the Times from the date of the capsule’s burial. Headlines on its front page include: “Cooked meats bring out Soviet voters in droves”, alongside a photo of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and “US rejects Iraqi warplanes plea as rebels close in”.
Images released by archivists show some damage to the objects, but they are largely intact.
The burial of the time capsule was similar to a ceremony in 1872 during which the then Princess of Wales, Alexandra, laid a foundation stone at the hospital, also sealing a time capsule. That time capsule, which contained a photo of Queen Victoria, has not been found.
Staff who were either born in 1991 or were already working at the hospital in 1991 helped to remove the capsule before the construction of the new children’s 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.
