The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) is today sending its deepest condolences to The Royal Family on the passing of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

The RCH had a long connection with our patron Queen Elizabeth, with Her Majesty first visiting the hospital in Carlton in 1954 and then returning to open two iterations of the RCH, one in 1963 and our current site in 2011.

In 1953 our hospital was granted Royal Ascent to change its name to ‘Royal Children’s Hospital’. Shortly after, Queen Elizabeth, along with Prince Phillip, the late Duke of Edinburgh visited the hospital for the first time.

The Queen opened the new Royal Children’s Hospital on her tour of Australia in February 1963. In her speech at the ceremony, the Queen described the new Parkville buildings as ‘A monument to Victoria’s humanity and public spirit’.

We were privileged Her Majesty returned in 2011 to officially open our current site during her last visit to Melbourne with Prince Phillip.

We will always be proud of our long association with the Queen and send our sympathies to HRH King Charles and the Royal Family and thank them for the special relationship the RCH was privileged to enjoy during Her Majesty’s reign.