George Pinker

Sir George Douglas Pinker, KCVO (6 December 1924 – 29 April 2007) was an internationally respected obstetrician and gynecologist, best known for modernizing the delivery of royal babies.

Early life George Douglas Pinker was born on 6 December 1924 in Calcutta, India, the second son of Queenie Elizabeth née Dix and Ronald Douglas Pinker, a horticulturist who worked for Suttons Seeds for 40 years, and headed the bulb and flower department for 25 years. At the time of George's birth he ran Sutton Seeds Indian Branch in Calcutta. His older brother Kenneth Hubert was born in Reading on 15 September 1919.

Education From 1928 aged four, Pinker was educated at Reading School. In 1942, he began medical training at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, Paddington, London, qualifying as a doctor in 1947. As a student in 1946, when the Music Society put on its first post-war production The Mikado, he sang one of the leading roles. He turned down a contract with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to pursue a career in medicine. Queen Elizabeth attended the performance as patron of both the hospital and the medical school, accompanied by the two young princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret.

Professional career Deciding to specialize in obstetrics, he served his National Service as a lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Singapore, where he did much of his specialist training under Benjamin Henry Sheares at the British Military Hospital, Singapore. Changing its name to Birthright in 1972, it is now Wellbeing of Women. Diana, Princess of Wales, whose two sons had been delivered by Pinker, became a patron in 1984.

On 12 October 2011, the Right Reverend Vincent Nichols gave the first annual Sir George Pinker Memorial Address.

Surgeon and gynecologist to the Queen In 1973 he succeeded Sir John Peel as surgeon gynaecologist to Queen Elizabeth II. The youngest person to be appointed to the post, he delivered nine royal babies:

A Memorial Service was held in October 2007 St Marylebone Church, London, attended by the Duchess of Gloucester and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. In August 2008 it was reported that he left nearly £1.5million in his will to his four children.