Honorary Fellows

Honorary Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences are individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to medical science, health or wider society.

Our Honorary Fellows come from science, industry, policy and public life. They strengthen our work through their insight, influence and commitment to improving health and society.

See the full list of our Honorary Fellows

Royal Fellow

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal is our Royal Fellow, and officially opened our headquarters at 41 Portland Place in 2011. Her Royal Highness became the first Royal Fellow of the Academy when she was admitted to the Fellowship in 2013 in recognition of her dedication to the advancement of healthcare and the engagement of patients and the public in medical research.

In February 2015 Her Royal Highness attended the Spring Meeting for Clinical Academics in Training (now our Clinical academics in training annual conference). In May 2025 The Princess Royal visited the Academy and met donors, Fellows, researchers, patient and public partners and staff as part of our celebrations marking ten years of support from donors that has helped to advance innovation in biomedical research and policy.

HRH The Princess Royal and Dr Charlotte-Eve Short, Clinical Lecturer and SUSTAIN: women in research participant — Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal speaks with Professor Charlotte-Eve Short and other researchers supported by the Academy

Citation for Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal

Citation delivered by Professor Sir John Tooke PMedSci, President, Academy of Medical Sciences, 21 November 2013

It gives me great pleasure to admit Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal as the first Royal Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Royal Fellowship of the Academy is a deserved recognition of The Princess’s distinguished service to medical science and its applications, and the benefits she has brought to healthcare and to patients. Throughout her working life, The Princess has shown a true commitment to the advancement of medical research and education, and to the engagement of patients and the public in the application of science and delivery of healthcare.

The Princess Royal became President of Save the Children UK in 1970 and since then has been associated with a wide range of charities involved in medical and veterinary research, healthcare and patient support, along with equestrian, sports, military, agricultural, and welfare organisations. She is now a compassionate and energetic contributor to some 320 charities, a significant proportion of which are involved in health and education, or in the support of patients and their carers. These include The Nuffield Trust, Tenovus and the Moredun Foundation, amongst many others.

The Princess has visited numerous medical research institutions in her various roles, including recently the Medical Research Council Mitochondrial Biology Unit and the Medical Research Council Dunn Human Nutrition Unit, both in Cambridge, and the Centre for Molecular Medicine at the University of Dundee, all of which she is a patron. The Princess is a committed supporter and patron of WISE – Women Into Science & Engineering, which aims to increase the proportion of women in the UK’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths workforce from 13% to 30% in 2020.

The Princess became Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh in 2011 and was appointed the first Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands in the same year. As part of her duties, she has opened the Regenerative Neurology Clinic at the University of Edinburgh and is a regular visitor to the Edinburgh Cancer Research UK Centre. The Princess was elected as Chancellor by graduates of the University of London in 1981 in succession to her grandmother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and is a past Master of a number of City Livery Companies.

We are all familiar with The Princess’s equestrian achievements, which include success at European Three-Day Event Championships, competing in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and winning BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1971.

After five years as President of the British Olympic Association, The Princess was elected to the International Olympic Committee in 1988. In 2005 she led the Team GB Olympic bid in Singapore, which resulted in London being awarded the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The following year The Princess was appointed a Director of the London Organising Committee of the Games, and played a very major part in successfully delivering the vision ‘to host an inspirational, safe and inclusive Olympic and Paralympic Games’. During the preparation for the Olympics, the need for more expertise in sports medicine was highlighted, and in 2006, the Princess officially launched a new specialty and Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians.

The Princess’s commitment and service to science and medicine has been recognised with Honorary Fellowships of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. In 2011, Her Royal Highness received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Cranfield University in recognition of her services to education.

We were delighted that The Princess agreed to open the new headquarters of the Academy of Medical Sciences at 41 Portland Place on 31 March 2011. We had the opportunity, as we have had today, to introduce The Princess to a number of our Fellows, and to celebrate that fantastic new chapter in the history of the Academy.

Fellows, colleagues and friends, we commend HRH The Princess Royal to you as the first Royal Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.