Egham – The Orbital

Three Royal Holloway students attacked at Egham Station, 6th February 2026

4Mar

By Madeline SidgwickNo Comments

News

Three Royal Holloway students attacked at Egham Station, 6th February 2026

By Madeline Sidgwick and Ruby Sharkie, Senior and Associate News Editors TW: violence, stabbing, police involvement Royal Holloway confirmed three students were attacked at Egham train station on the 6th February, with a fourth victim having been assaulted. British Transport Police (BTP) officers were called at about 9:00pm along with Surrey police and paramedics. The victims included: two 20-year-old men, a third man aged 22, and an 18-year-old police have reported. The three men and teenager were taken to hospital with non life-threatening or life-changing injuries. The victims were Royal Holloway students and members of Royal Holloway Men’s Rugby. In total, four people were arrested, with three released on bail. 21 year old George Turner was charge...

23Jan

By Lily GregoryNo Comments

Opinion

Honestly, Thank you.

By Lily Gregory, Senior Agony Aunt The university has changed. You see, I did my undergraduate degree here at Royal Holloway and now I’m doing my masters degree. This is my fourth year here and honestly I’ve never seen the university quite like this.  I go out to society events during the evening, and the campus is still busy. People are skating, playing football, chatting, singing, and doing group study sessions. I was shocked. Throughout my undergraduate degree, campus was quiet and never had the energy that it does now. Be it day or night, the campus feels like a university campus rather than a place with academic buildings on it. Since Covid it has felt as though something is missing. Now, I see society events booming, with some having mo...

17Dec

By Lily GregoryNo Comments

Lifestyle

Moving on from University

Lily Gregory, Senior Agony Aunt University is supposedly one of the most amazing periods of your life. Graduates only ever sing songs of praise about their time at university. But nobody really tells you what’s next. Sure, they’ll give you advice and tell you that the job market will be okay. But that doesn’t compare to what you or I might experience. As someone who graduated over the summer of 2025, I wanted to see how people have moved on from university, and what has changed for them since graduation. I spoke to a couple friends who graduated alongside me in August 2025. James studied Maths, Sophie studied English and Creative Writing, and Ashleigh and I studied Classical Studies. No story is the same, and I hope this can help you see that anything is possible once you move...

Breaking news: Toast makes its return on Monday 17th November!

11Nov

By Ruby SharkieNo Comments

News

Breaking news: Toast makes its return on Monday 17th November!

Photo: RHSU Ruby Sharkie, Associate News Editor After teasing it on their Instagram a week ago, the Students' Union (@surhul) has just announced in an Instagram reel that the free entry night-life event Toast will be returning to campus on Monday 17th November 2025. Unlike last year, the Monday night event will be hosted at the SU venue after the recent closure of the Medicine venue. This now totals to two mascot-based events next week, one being Quackers on Wednesdays with a big yellow duck mascot, and now Toast. Although the tickets have not been released on the Royal Holloway Students' Union (RHSU) website, VP Societies and Sports David Gallardo González said in the 11 second reel: “Come for free entry, cheaper drinks and good vibes, all at the SU”. The re...

21Oct

By Mya RogersNo Comments

Creative Writing

A love letter to Royal Holloway

By Mya Rogers, Associate Creative Writing Editor A collaboration with the students of Royal Holloway, University of London. I remember the day I first moved here, In that time where autumn is beginning to introduce itself to the world, But there are still remnants of a warmer time: Like the way the trees whistle on a mild summer evening, Or the sunsets that shine silently in the distance, A ball of fire, feigning fear behind the founder’s building. Yet, yellow must fade to orange- Or, orange must fade to red, Reminding me that nothing lasts forever; Reminding me that the seasons change, The trees shed their leaves, weeping for a forgotten time, And the colour seems to be taken from everything- Just like how the sky is gettin...

Harmony in Connection: How Music Brings People Together

4Apr

By Chloe Tiffin-GearingNo Comments

Music, Opinion

Harmony in Connection: How Music Brings People Together

By Chloe Tiffin-Gearing You’re in a crowded festival field, the bass drops, and all of a sudden, you and the stranger to your left are jumping in sync and singing the same lyrics, despite being separated by language. This is what music is about. It’s an invisible thread that can tie people together, transcending social anxieties, backgrounds, borders and beliefs. Whether it be at a sold-out stadium concert or a small club in the backstreets of Brighton, live music will always manage to foster human connection. The energy of being in a crowd and knowing you’re feeling the same pulse of the same song as everyone else in the room can turn strangers into lifelong friends. People across the globe attend events like Lollapalooza, Glastonbury and Coachella, but for a few days, their univer...

University is the Most Confusing Time of your Life, and No One Talks About it

16Nov

By Claudia MacalusoNo Comments

Opinion

University is the Most Confusing Time of your Life, and No One Talks About it

By Claudia Macaluso Picture this. You’re eighteen, it's Christmas Eve, you’re sitting around a table with loads of people who you’re apparently related to, and you suddenly get asked this question: “So how’s uni?” And you shudder, thinking to yourself, “How could I possibly answer that nonchalantly?” The truth is, university is undoubtedly the strangest time of your life, and you’re not given enough credit for it. Everyone anticipates this moment for most of their teenage years, and yet when the time comes, you turn into this tiny goldfish who gets tossed into a massive aquarium full of fish species you’ve never even heard of before. One of my friends once told me, "I would love university if I didn’t actually have to do university.” You’ve been in education your entire life, yet...

21Nov

By Charlotte TownNo Comments

Lifestyle

Romanticising University Life

Romanticising simple tasks, such as a trip to the shops, walking to a lecture, or going into Egham for a coffee is something we are all guilty of. There is a feeling of comfort which arises by putting on a big coat and your favourite playlist and idly making your way around campus. The extravagant Founders building and the warm colours of Autumn which currently adorn Royal Holloway are the perfect complement to romanticising your university life. Romanticising your life can play a crucial part in cheering yourself up on gloomy days of Autumn and Winter. As busy students, we should allow ourselves to occasionally follow the beckoning lights of a local cafe or the friendly call of a day exploring charity shops (it is self-care really). Even revision can be made enjoyable when it is...

Ginger Ale, Germans, and ‘Good Girls’: An Advocacy Against Speed Dating

17Nov

By Olivia TaylorNo Comments

Lifestyle

Ginger Ale, Germans, and ‘Good Girls’: An Advocacy Against Speed Dating

All names mentioned in this article could be real or I may have made them up, I honestly just can’t remember who said yes or no to name dropping… Congratulations to me! I have reached my 20s, a decade dedicated to making decisions that will go on to shape the rest of my life, whether that surrounds my career, social life or even - dare I say it - love life. In hindsight, would it be better to scrap the congratulations? I must preface this article by saying it definitely is not about love, because if it was, I would be both deeply embarrassed and entirely let down, however, it is about my first time experiencing speed dating. Reasons for doing this include 1. I am an excellent wingwoman, 2. This article, 3. It sounded hilarious. Notice how none of my reasons include finding the love of ...

Searching for a Home: Connection through Crises

21Jun

By Accalia SmithNo Comments

News, Opinion

Searching for a Home: Connection through Crises

As I sat down to write this article, it suddenly struck me just how wide and complex the word ‘connection' is. At its core, connection has these profound connotations of a bond, of intimacy, of emotion. Yet we apply ‘connection’ to acquaintances and social media friends. On LinkedIn we ask a stranger to ‘connect’ in the name of professional development. We connect the dots, and play Connect 4. Most recently, connection has been used to talk about current crises from the Russian war on Ukraine to climate change. Now with Ukrainians being forced to find refuge in countless countries across Europe, we might wonder how this changes our viewpoint on connection. Yuliya, who recently fled Ukraine, told me her story. Below is her account of what happened. “I was born an...