Photograph of an X-ray of Edward VIII's left hand, England, 1931

Photographic print of an X-ray of the left hand of HRH The Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, taken in November 1931, almost certainly at The North Staffs Cripples Aid Society Orthopaedic Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, mounted and framed under glass, with written label, c.1931-1935

The X-ray is a photograph of an X-ray of the left hand of HRH The Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII. It was taken in November 1931, almost certainly at The North Staffs Cripples Aid Society Orthopaedic Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent. Although a copy, it is contemporaneous with the original. Such a ‘Royal x-ray’ is unusual as it is a record of a famous individual rather than an unknown or anonymous patient. From the Science Museum viewpoint it is also evidence that x-rays were still considered a novelty in the 1930s.