ONE of Keighley’s occasional royal visits took place on March 16, 1926, when Her Royal Highness Princess Mary officially opened a new electro-medical block at Victoria Hospital.
Her arrival was greeted by enthusiastic crowds, the parish church bells and a huge streamer saying 'Welcome' along the royal route at Utley. Children were allowed out of school to wave Union Flags.
Here, after lunch at Laurel Mount, home of the mayor, Alderman Arthur Smith, Princess Mary stands with a guard of honour of Girl Guides who lined the hospital drive from Highfield Lane. She went on to inspect the latest electro-medical appliances, even taking an X-ray photograph of the matron’s hand, before touring the hospital itself. She was especially interested in the children’s wards, where there was a 'Princess Mary Cot' endowed on the occasion of her marriage.
Victoria Hospital presented the princess with a bouquet of pink roses and white heather. To the delight of onlookers, she made a detour to the Town Hall Square in order to lay it at the war memorial.
The Keighley News of the time thought her “a distinctly charming personality possessed of all a true woman’s sympathy and kindness of heart”.
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