For 172 years of our 225 year history, we have been lucky enough to have a royal patron support our work. Queen Victoria was our first patron in 1838, and our current patron, The Duchess of Gloucester has supported us for almost 30 years. 

The School for the Blind became the Royal School for the Blind in February 1911, thanks to another of our royal patrons, George V. 

However, one of our most famous royal patrons was Princess Diana, who became our Royal Patron in 1982, until she stood down in 1996. During that time, she was an energetic supporter of the school, visiting three times over the course of her patronage, bringing significant media attention to the school. 

On her first visit, in 1982, she opened the new flats in Leatherhead, which marked a significant point in SeeAbility’s history. These were the first flats to resemble the modern SeeAbility set-up, where we started supporting people to live ambitious lives in individual flats, moving away from the institutionalisation of the old school. 

Her most famous visit to SeeAbility came a few years later, when she met Chris, who is still supported by SeeAbility. She let Chris touch her face, so he could understand what she looked like. He said: 

“She was very very pretty, I can tell you that!” 

Even after stepping down as Patron, Princess Diana remained close to SeeAbility, and was the first person to donate to the building of Heather House.