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The Royal Family and the RSM

The Royal Society of Medicine is extremely grateful for the support and commitment of the Royal Family through the years. The charity's patron is His Majesty King Charles III.

The Royal Society of Medicine is proud of its royal heritage, which it can trace back to 1834 when the first Royal Charter was granted by King William IV. The subsequent granting of a supplemental charter by King Edward VII was followed in 1912 with the official opening by King George V and Queen Mary of the Society’s new building on the corner of Wimpole Street and Henrietta Place, which remains the Society’s headquarters.
On 21 May 1962 Queen Elizabeth II joined a celebration at the RSM to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the building in 1912 by King George V and Queen Mary.
Queen Elizabeth II became the RSM's Patron on her accession to the throne in 1952 and in 1986 she visited the Society with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to open the newly expanded and modernised premises.
The RSM has had the privilege of welcoming several members of the Royal Family as Honorary Fellows, including The Princess Royal and The Prince of Wales.
In 2006 the RSM was honoured to receive His Majesty The King who gave a lecture as part of events celebrating the Society’s bicentenary. This was followed in 2012 with a paper written for the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine: Integrated health and post modern medicine. In 2021, a video message from His Majesty opened the Society’s 10-part webinar series on the health emergency of climate change.
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