A time capsule buried by Diana, Princess of Wales at Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) in 1991 has been opened, revealing a Kylie Minogue CD, a solar-powered calculator, and a passport.
The lead-encased wooden box was sealed to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the hospital's Variety Club Building, which opened in 1994.
The items in the capsule were selected by two children who won a Blue Peter competition and were intended to represent life in the 1990s. Other objects included a pocket TV, a snowflake hologram, and a photo of Princess Diana.
The time capsule was meant to be unearthed in 'hundreds of years' but was dug up to make way for the construction of a children's cancer centre.
Princess Diana became president of Gosh in 1989 and visited the children's hospital several times before her death in 1997. She helped select the items placed in the time capsule.
The CD of Kylie Minogue's Rhythm of Love album, released in 1990, was among the items included. The CD was chosen by David Watson, then aged 11, from Paignton, Devon.
Sylvia Foulkes, then aged 9, from Norwich, selected other items including British coins, tree seeds, and a snowflake hologram.
Images released by archivists show some damage to the objects, but they are largely intact. The capsule also included a copy of the Times newspaper from the date of burial, featuring headlines about Soviet voters and US-Iraq relations.
The burial of the time capsule echoes a ceremony in 1872 when the then Princess of Wales, Alexandra, sealed a time capsule that included a photo of Queen Victoria, which has not been found.
The children’s cancer centre at Gosh will be a “national resource” for childhood cancer treatment, aimed at developing kinder, more effective therapies for young patients.
