Princess of Wales Visits Hampshire Hospital to Look at Early Baby Support
The Princess of Wales visited The Chase Community Hospital in Bordon, Hampshire, on 11 November 2026, to see a project that helps identify babies and families who may need extra support.
The visit was a solo engagement. It came after Prince George's half-term break, and it was the Princess's first public outing reported in the days that followed. Hello! Magazine reported the visit and described it as a return to official duties.
The project is backed by the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, a body set up to focus on the early years of a child's life. The visit highlighted its expansion across the UK. At the centre of the work is the Alarm Distress Baby Scale, usually shortened to ADBB. It is an observational tool used by health visitors, the nurses who check on families with young children at home and in clinics. Health visitors watch how a baby responds to people and surroundings, and they use the scale for infants from birth to 24 months old.
The tool is designed to pick up early signs of social and relational withdrawal in babies. In plain terms, that means a baby who stops reaching out, looking at or responding to the people around them. Spotting that early allows families to be offered help sooner.
The Princess first saw the ADBB tool in use in Denmark in 2022. During the Hampshire visit, she met health visitors who now use it in their everyday work. She also met six-month-old Enid, who was part of the visit.
The Princess was greeted on arrival by Nigel Atkinson, the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire. A Lord-Lieutenant is the Crown's representative in a county, and is the person who usually receives members of the royal family on visits there.
What the visit shows is how the project works on the ground: trained staff, a simple scale, and a focus on families before problems grow.
Royal visits like this one often follow a set pattern. They are listed in the Court Circular, the official daily record of the royal family's engagements, and they are usually arranged with local organisations months in advance. This one focused on a health service that most families use at some point in a baby's first two years.
