Our Royal Patron
Her Royal Highness, Princess Alexandra, has been the Royal Patron of Rockinghorse since July 2017
About our Patron
Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, the late Queen’s cousin, has been the Rockinghorse Children’s Charity patron since 2017.
We are lucky enough to be one of the few Sussex-based charities to hold Royal Patronage.
HRH Princess Alexandra took over patronage of Rockinghorse from Lady Mary Herries (formerly Lady Mary Mumford), who sadly passed away in April 2017. Lady Mary was Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Alexandra for over 50 years, and our only Patron for half a century having accepted the invitation from Dr Trevor Mann back in 1967 when our charity was founded.
History
Over the years the Royal Alex has been honoured to receive several visits from HRH Princess Alexandra.
Her first visit took place in July 1955 with the 18-year-old Princess visiting her namesake at its previous site on Dyke Road in Brighton.
In the subsequent years she became a regular visitor to the Alex, making a special visit for the 1968 centenary celebrations and further visits in 1972, 1992 and 1999.
Then, following her appointment as Royal Patron in 2017, she made her most recent visit during our 50th Anniversary year. This visit offered her the opportunity to see for herself the cutting edge facilities that the new site offers, along with the work that Rockinghorse does to support the hospital.