Prince William and The Duchess of Cambridge visited a London Ambulance Centre in Croydon on Thursday, March 19, to meet the staff and thank them for their work.
The visit saw William and Kate speak to staff members of the Croydon London Ambulance Centre, as well as the Chief Executive of the London Ambulance Service, Garrett Emmerson. The big takeaway here is there has been an increase of 5x the average number of calls to the NHS 111 service to nearly 8,000 calls a day.
William released a statement on IG about the visit, praising the NHS and urging people to follow advice on what to do about the virus at home so they can help alleviate pressure on the NHS 111 service, saying:
Catherine and I were proud to visit staff working at NHS 111, to pass on our personal thanks, along with those of my grandmother and father, to staff working around the clock to provide care and advice to those that need it most.
The last few weeks, and more recent days have been understandably concerning with the continuing spread of coronavirus. But it’s at times like this when we realise just how much the NHS represents the very best of our country and society – people from all backgrounds and walks of life with different experiences and skills, pulling together for the common good.
Not only are NHS staff and emergency workers responding to the needs of the public, they – like the rest of us – are concerned about their families, friends and loved ones. They need our support as much as we need theirs. All of us have a part to play if we’re going to protect the most vulnerable. That means acting on the latest expert advice, staying home if we or those we live with have symptoms, and avoiding non-essential contact to help reduce the spread of the virus.
KP IG
KP points readers to the NHS website for more information: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
As a side note, I loathe when the royals use IG, and IG only, for statements and press releases like this. The royal website has a page about this visit with a quote from this statement, yet didn’t post the full statement? Instead the full statement is on IG only? So dumb.
Kate switched things up a bit and went with something quite office-appropriate at an affordable price: Marks & Spencer “Autograph Wool Blend Double Breasted Blazer” (£99) and “Autograph Wool Blend Slim Leg Cropped Trousers” (£59) both in Dark Rose. The shoes are a repeat from 2016, the Hugo Boss “Staple P90-L in Anthracite”. Kate wore small gold hoops as well, and a white shirt underneath the blazer.
As reported by Richard Palmer, this visit was unannounced and embargoed until today, March 20, because they didn’t want to clash with The Queen’s statement yesterday. Additionally, they didn’t want to risk gathering crowds because it goes against the advice of limiting crowd size.
As this crisis continues, I expect we’ll have more of these unannounced, embargoed visits due to limiting crowd sizes. Also, I saw this mentioned somewhere but I can’t remember where, William and Kate are the most senior royals who are under the age-based self-isolation guidelines. So if we do see the royals during this time, it will most likely be William and Kate.
