Queen makes surprise visit to open hospice centre

The monarch travelled the short distance from her Windsor Castle home to Maidenhead to meet staff and volunteers at the Thames Hospice

The Queen has visited a hospice near her Windsor home to meet staff and volunteers (PA) (PA Wire)

The Queen has made a surprise visit to a hospice with the Princess Royal to open its new centre.

The monarch travelled the short distance from her Windsor Castle home to Maidenhead to tour the Thames Hospice to meet staff, volunteers and a patient.

For more than 30 years the hospice has been providing palliative and end-of-life care and support to people across East Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire.

Its services are free for those who need care, and more than 50 per cent of the £13m annual running costs come from charitable support.

During the visit, the Queen saw the funny side when a mobile phone rang at a crucial moment as she officially opened the £22m hospice building.

Just as she was introduced to Graham White and his wife Pat, who has stage 4 cancer and is receiving respite care at the centre in Maidenhead, his phone rang and he reached into his pocket to turn it off.

The Queen quipped: “Typical, a phone goes off immediately”, and Mr White sheepishly said it was his son ringing.

Mrs White sat as she chatted to the Queen, who stood and leaned on her now familiar walking stick, and afterwards the 63-year-old described the encounter as "very emotional", adding: “This is a memory that I will treasure.”

The Queen and Charles at the George Cross presentation with health representatives (PA) (PA Wire)

She joked about her husband's phone ringing, saying: “I could have killed him! People think the Queen is all stiff upper lip but she has a sense of humour.”

Mr White, 67, from Sandhurst, Berkshire, said: “I turned my wife's phone off and I could have sworn mine was off - that was a bit embarrassing.”

His wife said: “The Queen said the building is beautiful and she showed a keen interest in the different treatments for cancer, and hoped the new building would help support all the cancer patients here.”

On Tuesday, the Queen celebrated the achievements of the NHS across the decades by awarding the institution the George Cross during a ceremony she hosted at Windsor.

The 96-year-old head of state was joined by the Prince of Wales for event where health leaders from the four home nations were each awarded the medal.