20 Mar 2026
The Princess Royal met staff and students during a ceremony at the Hertfordshire campus.
Allister Webb
Job Title
RVC principal Stuart Reid with the Princess Royal during the official opening of a new student learning centre.
The Princess Royal has officially opened a new student learning centre on the RVC’s Hawkshead campus in Hertfordshire.
College leaders say the new facility, which was unveiled in a ceremony yesterday, 18 March, will help them shape a new generation of vets and bioscience professionals.
Princess Anne met students and academics, as well as touring the new facilities which include student and research laboratories, teaching rooms and a 400-seat lecture theatre.
She also heard details of the college’s latest research in areas such as zoonotic disease vaccination and stem cell therapy for horses.
College principal Stuart Reid said it had been a “pleasure” to welcome the princess, three years after her last visit to the college to re-open the Hobday building at its Camden campus.
He said: “With the student experience at the heart of the Centre and as a knowledge-led institution, this investment ensures that we can continue to develop the thought leaders of tomorrow, whatever their intended career destination.
“We value the support of our Chancellor as we strive to address society’s needs in animal and human health.”
The Princess Royal has served as Chancellor of the University of London, of which the RVC is a member institution, since 1981, when she succeeded her grandmother, the late Queen Mother.