Prince Edward celebrates 'Founder's Day' at Royal Hospital Chelsea

Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh, recently celebrated the Founder’s Day at Royal Hospital Chelsea.

The Royal Prince paid a solo visit to the hospital and joined the Chelsea Pensioners, its residents, to commemorate the anniversary of the institution founded by King Charles II.

Taking to Instagram the official handle of the royal family shared a carousel of photos and videos from the Duke’s visit.

The pictures and clips showed The Duke meeting with the Chelsea Pensioners in a pleasant weather.

The shared post was captioned, “Celebrating Founder’s Day at @RoyalHospitalChelsea!

Today, The Duke of Edinburgh joined Chelsea Pensioners to celebrate Founder’s Day and their founder, King Charles II.”

It also continued as, “This event has taken place nearly every year since the Royal Hospital opened in 1692. The institution, now over 330 years old, today provides a home and sense of purpose for the Chelsea Pensioners.”

For those unversed, the Royal Hospital Chelsea was founded as an almshouse, an old word used for "hospital", by King Charles II. 

Today, it serves as an Old Soldiers' retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army, known as the Chelsea Pensioners. It is comprises of a 66-acre (27 ha) site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea, London.

The Prince’s last official visit was to St Andrew's Youth Club in May 2025 to mark the Mental Health Awareness Week.

The news was shared by the Buckingham Palace on their social media handles with the caption, “As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, The Duke of Edinburgh visited St Andrew’s Youth Club in Westminster.”

During his visit, the Duke reportedly participated in a range of wellbeing-focused activities, including baking, mindful colouring, and essential oil blending and also had the opportunity to watch an under-9s football match.