Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was an honorary fellow and visitor of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and, during her long reign, attended the College on several occasions. On 5 December 1951, as Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth, she visited the College to receive her honorary fellowship and sign the roll of honorary fellows. She was greeted by the then president Sir Cecil Wakeley and the vice presidents Philip Henry Mitchiner and Sir James Paterson Ross. On 5 May 1953, just a month before her coronation, she visited Lincoln’s Inn Fields to lay the memorial stone of the College buildings, which were to be renovated and extended following bomb damage during the Second World War. In September 1957 Her Majesty the Queen gave her royal assent to a new charter of the College. A year later, an announcement was made by Buckingham Palace to the effect that Her Majesty would be described as visitor to the Royal College of Surgeons of England; the title is one of the few titles automatically assumed by the new sovereign on the accession to the throne. In November 1962, Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Philip visited the College to formally open the completed post-war buildings. On 21 November 1989 Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Philip made their final visit to the College. They were greeted by the then president Terence English and vice presidents Phyllis George and David Evans, toured the Hunterian Museum and College Library and signed the visitors’ book.