How Lily helped save hospital
A song and a dance helped save St Mark’s Hospital from financial ruin at the end of the 19th Century when socialite and actress Lily Langtry organised a charity show at the Drury Lane Theatre.
The ‘Jersey Lily’ was a favourite with the newspapers, mixed with the rich and powerful and had a string of famous lovers including the Prince of Wales.
A souvenir programme accompanied the show called The Story of St Mark’s but there was no mention of the medical conditions treated to avoid offending Victorian sensibilities.
The show drew a packed audience but the cost of running the hospital still forced it to reluctantly start charging new in-patients ‘according to his or her means of between 5 and ten shillings a week (25-50 pence) for maintenance and treatment.”