Why Prince Charles just made history at the opening of the new Nightingale Hospital

Prince Charles made history as he marked the opening of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital in London.

• The heir to throne carried out the engagement from Balmoral, where he’s been self-isolating, in what it’s being considered an ‘unprecendented’ and ‘historic’ event.
• The royal has recently been diagnosed with COVID-19, and was therefore unable to attend the ceremony in person.
• This follows royal news (opens in new tab) that the Queen sent a sweet message to all the NHS workers (opens in new tab).

The word ‘unprecedented’ has been used a lot to describe many of the recent events during the pandemic the world is experiencing, and now it’s reached the royals too.

As they’re being forced to work from home like many other people up and down the country, Prince Charles has marked the official opening of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital in London (opens in new tab) via videoconference.

Speaking from Birkhall (opens in new tab), his country home in Scotland, Prince Charles described the new hospital as a "spectacular and almost unbelievable feat of work".

He added that it shows "how the impossible could be made possible and how we can achieve the unthinkable through human will and ingenuity," he added, saying: "In this dark time, this place will be a shining light."

The virtual opening of the new hospital has been described as 'unprecedented' and 'historic' by royal reporter Rebecca English on Twitter.

As well as respecting the government’s guidelines to not make unnecessary travel, Prince Charles has also been recovering from the virus himself.

A statement revealing the Prince of Wales’ diagnosis was shared by Buckingham Palace last week, where it was also revealed they weren’t able to pinpoint exactly when he contracted the disease due to the high volume of public engagements he attended.

This week, Clarence House confirmed Prince Charles had recovered and is out of self-isolation. He later delivered a speech from his study (opens in new tab), where he spoke out about the effect that the devastating virus has had on the ‘older members of the community’.

He said, "Having recently gone through the process of contracting this coronavirus, luckily with relatively mild symptoms, I now find myself on the other side of the illness, but still in no less a state of social distance and general isolation.

“As we are all learning, this is a strange, frustrating and often distressing experience, when the presence of family and friends is no longer possible and the normal structures of life are suddenly removed.

“At such an unprecedented and anxious time in all our lives, my wife and I are thinking particularly of all those who have lost their lived ones in such very difficult and abnormal circumstances and of those having to endure sickness, isolation and loneliness.

"As Patron of Age UK, and my wife the Patron of Silver Line, our hearts go to all those older people throughout this country who are now experiencing great difficulty."