Princess Royal ‘inspired’ by charity work of former Miss Scotland and husband

A model and former Miss Scotland and her husband who have been honoured for their charity work said the Princess Royal described their philanthropy as “inspiring”.

Nicola Wood and her husband Garreth founded Kids Operating Room (OR) after their own experience of having children who needed medical intervention.

“This led us to wanting to do something to help other parents that are in that same situation,” Mrs Wood said.

The couple, who live in East Lothian, founded Kids OR in 2018 and they have since opened more than 100 operating rooms in over 30 countries.

Mr Wood travelled to Ukraine in November to open six new paediatric operating rooms at a hospital in the west of the country.

He told the Press Association: “1.7 billion children can’t access surgery when they need it.

“We live in a world where children are dying from surgically-treatable conditions that we take for granted in this country.”

The pair were made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the Princess Royal at a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday for their services to health and charity.

Mrs Wood said: “It’s really quite special to think that someone who is royal knows about the work that we do and finds it inspiring.”

Her husband added: “She (Anne) said it was inspiring, which is nice to hear from anyone.”

They were honoured alongside John Whiston, the former managing director of continuing drama at ITV.

He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to broadcasting and television.

Mr Whiston led Coronation Street and Emmerdale and said he wants every one of the 600 people who worked on the shows to “have the honour for a day”.

“I’ve been so lucky to work in television, particularly with comedians,” he said.

Mr Whiston, who has been dubbed the “Pope of Soaps”, has also worked on the Royle Family with the late Caroline Aherne, and on the game show Shooting Stars with comedians Vic Reeves (Jim Moir) and Bob Mortimer.

“I found Peter Kay,” Mr Whiston told PA. “What’s great about comedians is that they just, they take nothing seriously.

“So you’d be having a planning meeting for something, and Peter Kay would turn around and start sniffing the air and say ‘I can smell my tea burning’ and then he’d just get up and go in the middle of the meeting.

“I’ve loved the people that I’ve worked with because they’ve all had a sense of humour and that has made work be fun rather than work.”

He reflected on Anne’s visit to the set of Coronation Street in 2023, and the Princess Royal’s knowledge about the soap’s acid attack storyline, which he said had garnered a lot of attention.

“When the soaps tackle proper difficult subjects and they do it with care and emotion, I think there is no more powerful thing in terms of helping charities,” Mr Whiston said.

“They don’t tell people how to live their lives but they do make people feel less alone.”