Prince William has followed in his late mother’s footsteps as he joined medical professionals in the operating theatre on Wednesday.
The Duke donned nurses scrubs and a medical mask emulating the late Princess Diana who famously watched a heart operation at Harefield Hospital in Middlesex in 1996.
The Duke of Cambridge, President of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, visited the Trust’s facilities in Chelsea where he viewed two pioneering robotic surgeries.
The 35-year-old royal joined Professor Vinidh Paleri and his team in theatre as they perform minimally invasive robotic surgery on a patient with adenoid cystic carcinoma.
Prince William paid a visit to Royal Marsden hospital in Chelsea on Wednesday where he was seen chatting to patients
Prince spent time learning about invasive robotic surgeries and was seen getting to grips with a robotic consoles
Robotic surgery offers patients less invasive and shorter operations when compared to open surgery, with fewer scars, and faster recovery.
The Royal Marsden has the largest and most comprehensive programme of robotic surgery for cancer in the UK, treating urological, gynaecological, head and neck, gastrointestinal and colorectal patients. During the visit, The Duke will learn how The Royal Marsden, the first hospital in the UK to introduce da Vinci robotic surgery in 2007, is revolutionising the way cancer patients are treated.
The Duke will first meet Professor Vinidh Paleri, Consultant Head and Neck Surgeon, and his team as they perform minimally invasive robotic surgery on a patient with adenoid cystic carcinoma. His Royal Highness will then join Mr Asif Chaudry, Consultant Upper GI/Oesophagogastric Surgeon, as he performs a robotic oesophagectomy, a procedure only available at The Royal Marsden.
During the visit, The Duke will also learn more about the UK’s first ever robotic fellowship programme, funded by the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, which trains surgeons from other Trusts across the
The Duke of Cambridge, President of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, and was delighted to meet those who benefit from its work
The father-of-two spent time chatting to those in care and their families during his first engagement of the day
The Duke will later join staff, volunteers, and supporters of ‘Campaign Against Living Miserably’ (CALM), a charity dedicated to preventing male suicide, to lend his support to their ‘Best Man Project’.
The Duke will meet with volunteers and staff from CALM at High Road House, Chiswick, before joining a group of men who are taking part in filming ‘Best Man Project’ videos where they chat about the importance of friendship and issues around mental well-being.
As well as the volunteers taking part, The Duke will meet Rio Ferdinand and his friend Jamie Moralee, who took part in the Heads Together campaign, musician actor Loyle Carner, and radio and TV presenter Roman Kemp.
CALM is one of the main charity partners of Heads Together, the campaign led by The Duke of Cambridge alongside The Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
Male suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK. CALM delivers services for men in crisis or distress, supporting the people around them and those bereaved by suicide. They also campaign for long-term culture change to redefine and open up masculinity, so that over time fewer men will need support at crisis point.
CALM recently launched the ‘Best Man Project’ to promote the idea that you don’t have to wait for a wedding to be a great friend, and because male friendships can be instrumental in men looking after their mental health.