News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

One is the grandson of a schoolgirl who was the first official patient of the new NHS nearly 70 years ago.

The other is the great-granddaughter of Prime Minister Clement Attlee , who oversaw the launch of the free health service for all in post-war Britain.

And now, in an amazing coincidence, George Diggory and Katie Dormon have fallen in love and are set to be married.

The couple, both with medical backgrounds themselves, met three years ago while working in a university research lab.

But they had no idea about the link between their families until George visited Katie’s family home in Hertfordshire and spotted an impressive sword on the wall.

(Image: John Twine/Daily Mail/REX/Shutterstock)

The weapon had been a ceremonial gift to British PM Attlee from the president of the former Yugoslavia, Marshal Josip Tito, and was passed down as an heirloom.

Katie, 28, explained: “George was really impressed when he saw the sword and asked where it came from.

(Image: Mark Pinder/Meta-4)

"My dad told him Marshal Tito had given it to Clement Attlee, who was my mum’s grandfather.

“Until then George had no idea. We are a pretty normal family and although I’m very proud of my ancestry, it’s not ­something I shout about.”

(Image: Mirrorpix.com)

George, a 27-year-old junior hospital doctor, said: “When I found out I told Katie who my grandma was and she was amazed. It’s such a nice connection to have.”

His grandmother Sylvia Beckingham was just 13 when she became the official first patient of the newly-created NHS back in July 1948.

She was being treated at Park Hospital in Manchester for a potentially fatal liver condition.

(Image: Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust/PA)

The then-Health Secretary Aneurin “Nye” Bevan visited the hospital, now known as Trafford Hospital, and it was a handshake between him and Sylvia that symbolised the start of the NHS.

Despite her young age Sylvia was well aware of the significance of the occasion and championed the NHS for the rest of her life, until her death in 2006.

She married and became Sylvia Diggory and worked as a teacher, but she felt so indebted to the NHS she secretly sent off an application form for her son Clive to go to medical school.

(Image: Mirrorpix)

Clive – George’s dad – qualified as a GP and now works at Derwent Practice in Malton, North Yorks.

Now aged 58, Clive recalled: “My mum loved the NHS. As a staunch socialist she was very proud to be part of the establishment of it.

“At the end of her life she had breast cancer and received faultless care at York Hospital. The NHS didn’t let her down.”

(Image: Mark Pinder/Meta-4)

He added: “She was very disappointed when the purchaser-provider split came in under Tony Blair ’s government, knowing it would make the bureaucracy massive.

“But overall I think she would still be pretty pleased with today’s health service.

“The incredible standard of effort that nearly everybody working for the NHS puts in is probably not repeated anywhere else. The founding principle of the NHS is still the envy of the world.”

(Image: Mark Pinder/Meta-4)

Continuing the medical links between the two families, George’s younger brother Edward, 26, also works as a junior doctor – while Katie’s mum Tessa is a GP.

George, who took part in junior docs’ strike action at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary earlier this year, added: “The mandate of the NHS has expanded massively.

"What people now consider healthcare and the illnesses that are treatable have hugely increased.

(Image: Mark Pinder/Meta-4)

“We spend a relatively small amount of our GDP on the NHS and we get an awful lot in return.”

George met Katie in a lab at Newcastle University when he took a year out after finishing medical school to do research in blood cancer.

Katie, who still works in the same lab while completing a PhD in leukaemia research, said: “I am so proud of what my great-grandfather achieved.

“The NHS is fantastic. Everyone complains about it but when I hear people moaning I get really cross and tell them they don’t know how lucky they are.

“I don’t know of any other country in the world that provides free healthcare in quite the same way as we do.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

“And the staff work so hard. George can work 13-hour shifts on some days and that is hugely draining on anybody.

"I fully supported the junior doctors when they went on strike – it’s important we value our NHS staff because there wouldn’t be any NHS without them.”

The history-mad couple will tie the knot next June at Newburgh Priory in Coxwold, North Yorks, where the remains of Oliver Cromwell are said to be interred in a vault.