The Queen visits The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
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Today, The Queen visited the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in London to mark the organisation’s 150th anniversary.
RICS is a professional body specialising in land, property and construction representing 125,000 accredited qualified and trainee professionals. On 15th June 1868, the organisation was first founded in London as the Institution of Surveyors.
In 1881 the institution received a Royal Charter as The Surveyors' Institution from Queen Victoria, before becoming the Chartered Surveyors’ Institution in 1930. In 1946, George VI granted the title ‘Royal’ and in 1947 the professional body became the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Modern surveyors have played a leading role in developing the city in recent years. Projects they have worked on include the development of the London 2012 Olympic site, tunnelling Crossrail beneath the capital and planning the High Speed 2 railway.
As Patron of the organisation, Her Majesty visited the exhibition, ‘Shaping the World, Building the Future’, where she viewed items including a Lego model of the institution’s headquarters, made from 13,000 bricks and which took 150 hours to assemble.
The Queen meets Nigel Clutton, the great-grandson of the RICS Founder and 1st President, John Clutton.
The Queen views a demonstration of how surveyors use digital technology to maintain and refurbish large historic buildings using Augmented Reality apps.
Her Majesty also meets representatives of the organisation’s charitable work, trainees, students and diversity champions of the RICS.
The Queen locked a letter box shaped time capsule which will be reopened on the Institution’s 200th anniversary.
