Princess Eugenie reflects on her scoliosis diagnosis and spinal surgery
The princess has recalled her own recovery as a 12-year-old at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore
Princess Eugenie has opened up about her childhood scoliosis surgery while visiting a hospital in support of patients with spinal injuries.
The 35-year-old royal, a patron of Horatio’s Garden, which creates peaceful garden spaces for spinal injury patients, visited the charity’s Salisbury District Hospital location this week.
“Horatio’s Garden’s mission is to reach every spinal injuries unit in the UK. I’m happy to be on that journey with them. It needs to happen,” she told the Telegraph.
Princess Eugenie - who is 12th in line to the throne - then reflected on her own surgery at age 12 and recalled her recovery at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, where she spent 10 days on her back after surgeons inserted titanium rods into her spine to correct curvature caused by scoliosis.
“I couldn’t get out of bed or do anything for myself”, she said, adding that she felt “very embarrassed” ahead of the operation and later struggled with the emotional impact of post-surgery care.
It was four months before she was able to return to school.
She also spoke about the emotional impact of surgery, recalling how it was her mother, Sarah, Duchess of York, who helped her see her surgical scar as a “badge of honour”.
Eugenie said: “She’d (Sarah) turn me around and say, ‘my daughter is superhuman, you’ve got to check out her scar’.”
At her 2018 wedding, Eugenie wore a dress that revealed her scar to raise awareness of scoliosis.
Symptoms of scoliosis
NHS
Signs of scoliosis include:
- a visibly curved spine
- leaning to 1 side
- uneven shoulders
- 1 shoulder or hip sticking out
- the ribs sticking out on 1 side
- clothes not fitting well
Eugenie said she often received messages from anxious parents whose children are about to undergo spinal surgery, and she makes a point of offering encouragement and reassurance to help them through the experience.
She added: “I tell them not to feel ashamed, not just of the scar but of the whole experience; bed pans, the lot.”
Now a working mother of two, Eugenie juggles charity work alongside her role at international gallery Hauser & Wirth and said she and sister Beatrice feel a strong sense of duty to help others because of guidance from their grandmother, the late Queen.
She said: “My mum always taught me that giving back to others is the most important thing in life.
“Bea and I feel very strongly about this.
“My grandmother’s sense of duty was also instilled from a young age; we watched my parents, my granny and other family members working very hard.”