UK: Queen turns back on Harley Street for 'alternative' GP (from Feb 04)

[Sheri Nakken]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... 1QFIQMGSFF
OAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2004/02/22/nqueen22.xml

Queen turns back on Harley Street for 'alternative' GP
By Charlotte Edwardes and Andrew Alderson
(Filed: 22/02/2004)

He offers his patients massage, acupuncture, yoga and aromatherapy, but his
latest client is not a pop star or an actress - it is the Queen.

The Queen can practise Yoga when she sees her new doctor

Dr Timothy Evans, the man chosen to replace Sir Nigel Southward, the Harley
Street practitioner who has retired as the royal doctor, is based in
Wandsworth, south London where he has a private clinic that offers patients
a range of "alternative" treatments.

Dr Evans, 48, works in a modern, airy clinic with white walls,
floor-to-ceiling windows, oatmeal-coloured shutters, Moroccan lamps and
landscaped gardens.

He is also a self-made businessman with a portfolio of directorships. He
drives a fashionable grey Smart car, complete with "Dr Tim"-style
personalised numberplate. According to his clinic's website, Dr Evans, who
sports a goatee beard, is a man with "visions". He offers his patients
treatments involving the use of Chinese herbal medicine, aromatherapy,
massage, yoga, acupuncture, reflexology, stress management, pilates,
osteopathy and homeopathy.

Dr Evans is also the medical director at the Harbour Club gymnasium in
Chelsea, west London, once frequented by the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
He is even the "family GP" on an internet site.

His wife, Annabel, is an interior designer who recently gave their
six-bedroom property an overhaul to showcase her work. The house is adorned
with scented candles and ornamental Buddhas. The couple have two children,
Wilfie, two, and Poppy, 18 months.

Many of Dr Evans's patients live in the affluent tree-lined avenues around
the surgery. Yesterday they spoke highly of his work. "He is very
approachable, very friendly," said one male patient. "He never rushes you."

Another neighbour said: "The ladies who lunch love him. He is terribly
nice, charming and friendly. He is said to have healing hands."

Another patient, who takes her two young daughters to Dr Evans, said: "The
practice is stunning inside. It doesn't feel like a doctor's surgery. It's
more like a spa."

The contrast between Dr Evans and the man he has replaced as the doctor who
looks after the Queen and other members of the Royal Family could hardly be
more marked. Sir Nigel is far more conventional. He was educated at Rugby
and Cambridge University, and had a private practice at Devonshire Place -
the smarter end of Harley Street. His family had served the Royal Family
for more than 40 years. Sir Nigel spent summers with the Queen and Prince
Philip at Balmoral, the Royal Family's Scottish estate. He is the chairman
of the Royal Yacht Club.

It seems that the Queen, who chose her new doctor from a shortlist of five,
has been won over to the merits of "alternative medicine". It is part of a
trend within the Royal Family to experiment by moving away from the
traditional in favour of the new.

Senior members, including the Prince of Wales, have started using lawyers
outside Farrer & Co, the Queen's solicitors, to handle their legal affairs.
Dr Evans is the founder and medical director of Westover House, which, he
says, is "the realisation of my vision to create an environment where
traditional and complementary medicine is practised side by side providing
a fully integrated approach to the health care of all of our patients".

Dr Evans qualified from Westminster Hospital medical school in 1979. The
following year he travelled throughout Africa and spent two years as a
flying doctor. He also ran a 100-bed hospital in Zimbabwe. Since returning
to Britain in 1983, he has held a string of senior positions in general
practice, obstetrics and anaesthetics. He set up a one-man private practice
in Fulham specialising in the care of women and children.

Today he is the medical director of the Total Health Clinic at the Harbour
Club and medical director of Blossom House, a south London school for
children with learning difficulties. He lectures to antenatal classes and
is the "family GP" to an internet company advising on child safety and
wellbeing.

According to Buckingham Palace officials, Dr Evans treats the Queen and
other members of the Royal Family on a private basis but treats members of
the Royal Household and domestic staff on the NHS.

The Queen, who is 77 and in robust health, is likely to have seen Dr Evans
for medical reasons more than his predecessor. After years of near-perfect
health, she had problems with her left knee and lesions on her face last
year: both complaints required surgery.

All members of the Royal Family are entitled to be treated by the royal
doctor. Buckingham Palace declined to say which members of the Royal Family
were under Dr Evans's care. Prince Charles, however, is understood still to
use a private doctor in Harley Street.

Sir Nigel, like his father before him, was, at best, cautious towards
"alternative" medicine. He had a strong, almost Victorian belief in the
benefit of exercise.

His friends describe him as having impeccable manners and "old school"
values. Sir Nigel and his wife, Annette, have three grown-up children.

Sir Nigel, 63, served as doctor to the Queen and the Royal Household for 28
years. His father held the same job for 14 years. The position became
vacant when Sir Nigel decided to retire.

Dr Evans, who was appointed in March 2003, is already showing a quality
much valued by the medical professional and the Queen: discretion. When
approached by the Telegraph this weekend, he confirmed his new role but
added: "I am unable to discuss it."
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Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath
Well Within & Earth Mysteries & Sacred Site Tours (worldwide)
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