Princess Mary and the Babies

An Indian nurse and newborn babies greet Princess Mary at the British Hospital For Mothers And Babies in Woolwich.

This film of Princess Mary, King George V’s third child and only daughter, visiting a maternity hospital in Woolwich is notable for three reasons: the crowd made up entirely of new mothers that greets her arrival; the Indian nurse (or midwife) dressed in a sari who converses with the princess in the ward; and the extremely awkward photocall on the steps of the hospital that ends the footage.