Royal visit to hospital wing

The visit was the first task as patron for the Princess Royal

The Princess Royal has paid her first official visit as patron to a hospital that has pioneered plastic surgery.

A £3m refurbishment of the Canadian wing was being unveiled at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead on Wednesday.

The work was paid for by the Canadian government in memory of airmen killed during World War II.

Princess Anne unveiled a memorial to the Guinea Pig Club - named after airmen treated for burns in the war.

Guinea Pig Bill Foxley, who was treated there in wartime, said: "I was there for four years. The camaraderie that was built up is something that you will never lose."

Specialist centre

A hospital spokesman said: "The hospital has a magnificent tradition as a burns centre, which developed during the Second World War.

"It subsequently developed specialist services for people in south-east England.

"This is another chapter in the progression of the hospital."

The pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe began his work at the hospital during the war, much of which was experimental.

The visit was the first task for the Princess Royal as patron, who has taken the role over from the Queen Mother.