Our Patrons
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother had a long history with the Royal Veterinary College dating back to when she accompanied King George VI to open the new College Building in Camden Town on November 9th 1937.
In 1955 the College acquired a country estate in Hertfordshire to provide a new field station, and in 1958 the departments of medicine and surgery moved from their wartime site at Streatley in Berkshire into the new buildings at Hawkshead. In 1956 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II granted a new charter to The Royal Veterinary College and formally opened the College's field station in 1959.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother returned to Hawkshead to open the College's Northumberland Hall of Residence in 1965, and accepted election to Honorary Fellowship of the College in 1981.
We were absolutely delighted when, back when the Trust was formed in 1982, The Queen Mother agreed to become Patron of the College's Animal Care Trust. In 1986 she opened the first phase of the new Queen Mother Hospital for Animals, which was built largely as a result of the Trust's work.
Staff and students of the College were honoured to be invited to take part in the special parades which took place on Horse Guards Parade to celebrate both her 90th and 100th Birthdays.
The Royal Veterinary College Animal Care Trust were delighted to have Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother as Patron for 23 years. Her enthusiasm and interest for the work of the Trust and the College as a whole was greatly appreciated by both the staff and the students.
The Duchess of Cornwall
We were thrilled when The Duchess of Cornwall took over as Patron of The Royal Veterinary College Animal Care Trust in May 2005. The Duchess has a keen interest in animals and owns two Jack Russell terriers, Tosca and Rosie. She also loves riding and has bred horses herself. She keeps two horses at the Highgrove Estate. The horses take part in showjumping, showing, general riding and cross-country trialling.
Since becoming Patron of The Royal Veterinary College Animal Care Trust in 2005, The Duchess has visited our Hawkshead Campus twice. Her first visit, shortly after becoming Patron in January 2006, was in support of the Trust’s campaign to raise £5 million to develop the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals. During the visit Her Royal Highness witnessed the effect the Trust had already had in improving the facilities available in the College’s hospitals during a tour of both the small animal and Sefton Equine hospitals, and discussed the plans for the extension of the QMH.
In November 2008 The Duchess then did us the great honour of returning to open the completed £8 million extension and redevelopment project that upgraded and extended the Queen Mother Hospital’s facilities to make it the largest veterinary teaching hospital in Europe. HRH The Duchess of Cornwall was greeted by members of staff and clients in the hospital’s new reception and waiting areas, then started her extensive tour of the new wing.
Along the tour HRH was shown the Cardiology suite where she met Charlotte Pace, Head Cardiology Nurse. Charlotte explained the function of the suite and also demonstrated to HRH the use of a heart monitor on a dog. 
The next stop was the rehabilitation centre where HRH met Holly Smith, Head Nurse and saw Lelu who was using the hydrotherapy pool with Helen Webb.
The final phase of the tour saw HRH visit the Intensive Care Unit where Max the kitten was being looked after by Kate Nichols, Head Nurse of Emergency and Critical Care. The visit ended with HRH unveiling a plaque to mark the official opening of this remarkable facility.
The Royal Veterinary College Animal Care Trust’s registered charity number is 281571.