It’s pure theatre as Wills has his ‘Diana moment’
PRINCE William echoed his late mother Princess Diana as he scrubbed up to watch live surgery yesterday.
The prince viewed operations on two patients at the Royal Marsden hopsital in Chelsea, a world-leading cancer treatment centre of which he is president.
Diana famously watched a heart operation at harefield hospital in Middlesex in 1996 – when she was criticised for the heavy eye make-up visible above her face mask. She also made secret visits to other hospitals including the Royal Brompton, also in Chelsea, where she met and fell in love with surgeon Dr hasnat Khan.
In his visit to the Royal Marsden, in west London, yesterday, William watched pioneering robotic surgery take place – likening it to playing on a Playstation.
he said afterwards: It’s the same as the Playstation gear. You can see all the doctors have done Playstation. They let me watch but not to have a go.’
The Royal Marsden was the first hospital in the country to introduce the da vinci medical robots in 2007, which are revolutionising the way cancer patients are treated. Robotic surgery offers patients less invasive and shorter operations, with fewer scars, and faster recovery.
The Royal Marsden has the largest programme of robotic surgery for cancer in the UK, treating multiple conditions.
William, 35, appeared as fascinated as his mother as he watched surgeons burn tumours off two patients. First was anne White, 67, who had a tumour removed from the base of her tongue in a two-hour operation by surgeon Professor vinidh Paleri.
Without the sci-fi style technology he would have had to go through the side of her face, taking off a whole cross section of tissue in a marathon 12-hour operation. But thanks to the robot, the medical team could dispatch the tumour by going in through her mouth. Charles Ludlow, 63, had cancer cells seared from his oesophagus in an operation that took six hours of constant work, with the machine using heat rather than a blade to attack the unwanted tissue.
William said: ‘It’s fascinating watching the robot work – it’s just so precise. You see it so upclose. You can really see how the human body is and how it works.
‘ It’s incredible. I was really, really impressed with it.’