The Royal Berkshire Hospital was opened in 1839 on the London Road on land donated by Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, a local resident and former Prime Minister. The hospital was built by local architect and builder Henry Briant, who won the design competition. King William IV took a keen interest in the hospital before it was built and as a consequence, his arms appear on the central pediment, although he died before the hospital opened. The first patron of the hospital was William’s niece and successor, Queen Victoria.
In 1931, the famous fighter pilot Douglas Bader had both legs amputated in the hospital by the surgeon Leonard Joyce, after an air crash at Woodley Aerodrome. The hospital features in the film Reach for the Sky, where these events are depicted.
Catherine Middleton, the wife of Prince William, was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital on 9 January 1982, as was her sister Pippa Middleton in 1983.
