Royal fan favourites the Duchess of Cambridge and the Countess of Wessex joined forces this week for a very worthy cause. Kate and Sophie teamed up to make a series of conference calls to nurses around the Commonwealth to thank them for their hard work during the coronavirus pandemic. Their sweet gesture was in honour of International Nurses Day, which takes place every year on 12 May, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. The royals reached out to workers from all around the world, including India, Australia, Malawi, Cyprus, Sierra Leone, the Bahamas and London.
Sophie and Kate teamed up to call nurses from across the Commonwealth
Kate, 38, and Sophie, 55, both have strong connections to the medical world. Sophie's roles include Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, and Colonel-in-Chief of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, while Kate is the Patron of the Evelina London Children's Hospital, and Patron of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, amongst others. And, of course, as mothers they are well aware of the hard work undertaken by nurses across the globe. Last year, Kate even underwent two days of work experience at the Kingston Maternity Unit, which included a community midwife visit.
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The Duchess underwent two days of work experience at Kingston Maternity Unit
Just last week, Sophie teamed up with TV stars Ant and Dec to formally open the new NHS Nightingale Hospital North East, in Sunderland, via video message. Kate, meanwhile, delighted WWII veterans on Friday, when she and her husband Prince William joined in VE Day celebrations at an East Sussex care home. Champagne was flowing as the royal couple listened to the residents as they reminisced about the day the war ended in Europe on 8 May 1945.
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The Duchess spoke about her paternal grandmother Valerie Glassborow's role at the code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, which Kate visited last May. She said: "It's so sad that she's not here today, as I would love to speak to her more about it."
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The royal mum also revealed during the video call that her eldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, had been asked by their teachers at Thomas's School in Battersea to learn Dame Vera Lynn's famous wartime anthem. She said: "The school has set all the children a challenge and they're currently trying to learn the lyrics to the song We'll Meet Again... so it's been really lovely having that playing every day." Kate added that George, six, is starting to learn about the Second World War in his history lessons.
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William praised the efforts of the wartime generation, and told them: "Because we can't be together, everyone's still thinking of you all today, and are very proud of everything you've all achieved."
