Aahana Swrup
‘Goodbye June’ is an emotional Christmas film where a tragedy forces a dysfunctional family to come together and bury the hatchet of their past. The film revolves around the titular character, June Cheshire, an old woman whose cancer comes back with a ruthless terminality. As a result, her husband, their four kids, Helen, Julia, Molly, and Connor, and many grandchildren become frequent visitors to the local hospital, Princess Mary Cheltenham, where the matriarch receives palliative care. This unexpected, prolonged reunion, in the face of grave potential loss, pushes June’s family to traverse their own complicated relationships while the woman herself faces death’s door as she sees fit. Naturally, given the nature of this tear-jerking holiday tale, a directorial debut for Kate Winslet, the central Princess Mary Cheltenham becomes a crucial element to the moving narrative.
The Real Location Behind the Fictional Princess Mary Cheltenham Hospital
‘Goodbye June’ is a film that is grounded in realistic family dynamics and relationships while showcasing a bittersweet reality of what the end of a life can look like under the best of circumstances. Even so, despite its commitment to realism and grounded authenticity, the story remains a work of fiction penned by Joe Anders and brought to the screen under the direction of his mother, the Academy Award-winning actress Kate Winslet. As a result, much like the characters in the story, the central location of June’s tale, the Princess Mary Cheltenham Hospital, also becomes a fictitious tool created to serve the overarching narrative. In real life, there are no identical hospitals in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
Instead, the more well-known local medical establishments in the area seem to be the Cheltenham General Hospital, an NHS district hospital. However, despite being fictional in nature, Princess Mary Cheltenham actually sports an off-screen counterpart, which served as the chief location during the filming of ‘Goodbye June.’ Reportedly, during production, St.Mary’s University in Outer London’s Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, was employed as the real-life location behind the fictional hospital. Along with outside signage and banners, St.Mary’s University’s interiors were also changed to fit in with the visual of a medical center. Reports suggest that part of the interior campus, with its classrooms and hallways, was turned into hospital rooms, waiting areas, and other familiar spaces.
As a result, the decision to employ the real-life establishment instilled a more grounded and lived-in feel to the final set designs, allowing the fictional Cheshire family to occupy a realistic space. The narrative portrayal of the medical institution, as a place for individuals and families to find peace and comfort while dealing with the daunting reality of death, further added a more authentic feel to the hospital. Statistically, hospitals are one of the most common places of death, as medical centers saw almost 42.8% in 2023. Furthermore, Palliative care remains a deeply important part of healthcare, which provides patients with an improved quality of life as they face terminal or chronic diseases. As per reports, 34% of adults in need of this kind of care are cancer patients. Therefore, Princess Mary Cheltenham’s role in June’s story, albeit fictional, presents a realistic aspect of life.
Read More: Where Was Goodbye June Filmed? All Shooting Locations
