N O V E M B E R / D E C E M E B E R - 1 9 9 7

1961-1997 British Deaf Remember Diana, the beautiful and famous princess who died in a violent car accident, was a long-time friend of many British deaf people and Britain's deaf community. Here are memories about Diana.

Patron of Deaf
Diana was the patron of the British Deaf Association (BDA) for 10 years. Jeff McWhinney, Chief Executive Officer of the British Deaf Association (BDA), said that Diana became patron of the BDA soon after she married Prince Charles. As Charles' wife, Diana became the Princess of Wales and her children became next in line to be Britain's royal rulers.

Choosing Signs Many people were surprised when Diana became the BDA's patron. There are many other associations related to deaf people and deaf education in Britain, but the BDA is the largest association of deaf people; it is also the organization that supports sign la nguage. "It was a political decision for Diana... to support sign language," said Clark Denmark, Director of Deaf Studies at the University of Bristol, who is himself deaf. Diana's selection of signs over oral methods of communication made British deaf people proud, Denmark said.

Diana with the British Sign Language Dictionary

Learning Signs
After she became BDA patron, Diana began to learn sign language. "...to see a royal person learning and using sign language was amazing," remembered Denmark. Her teacher was Liz Scott-Gibson, a hearing woman from a deaf family. Diana took private lessons for two years —and some people say that she became quite skilled. McWhinney, who is deaf, remembers a speech Diana gave in sign language. She made the speech in 1990, the year that the British Deaf Association became 100 years old. Over 2000 people h ad gathered for a centennial celebration. Diana came to the celebration, too. She was among the those who were asked to speak—and she spoke through sign language. The signs "were very welcomed," McWhinney remembered. He remembers something else too.. .As always, many photographers were around Diana and they wanted to take her picture. When Diana finished talking and signing, there were "a barrage of flashing lights from the press pack," said McWhinney.

Hooray BSL
Diana never doubted the power of British Sign Language. In 1992, when the Dictionary of British Sign Language/English was published, Diana wrote the forward. Here is what she wrote: "...I am delighted to welcome...this unique bilingual dictionary... British Sign Language is the fourth most commonly used of Britain's indigenous languages... and it is estimated to be first or preferred language of over 50,000 people in this country. As a consequence of my involvement with Deaf people, I have become aware of the richness of BSL as a distinct and independent language."

Signs in Hospice
Diana usually had an interpreter with her. But whenever possible, she signed for herself. On a visit to a hospice in Canada where people were dying of AIDS, Diana met Pat Bass, a deaf woman whose son had recently died. Bass presented Diana with a bouquet of flowers and signed a message to her. A nurse hurried forward to help with translation, but she was not necessary. Diana quickly passed the flowers to another person and signed back to Bass herself. Diana and Bass laughed and talked for a few quick minutes before Diana turned to other people. At the hospice, people were surprised and pleased.
- Maclean's

Diana signing with deaf people		Signing Prince? Diana seems to have encouraged her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, to explore signs, too. When Allan Murray, a member of the BDA Executive Council, reported that last time he met with Princess Diana she was with her son, Prince Harry.
Princess Diana greeted those present in British Sign Language and encouraged Harry to fingerspell his name, too. BDA-press release

Special Deaf Friend
Diana made a special deaf friend a few weeks before she died. She was on private yacht in the Mediterranean Sea when she met the brother of her boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, who was killed in the crash with her. Dodi's brother, Karin Al Fayed, 14, is deaf. Ka rin told his friends about the visit, said Denmark. Denmark was impressed that Diana and Karin used signs to communicate. "The fact that she was actually signing with Karin was such an amazing thing," he added.

Funeral Signs
Diana's funeral was attended by millions of people and millions more watched the proceedings on TV. A few special people were invited to participate. Six deaf people were among the representatives of Diana's favorite charities who walked behind her coffin . Four deaf guests attended the funeral service in the famous Westminster Abbey. The funeral services were interpreted into sign language.

Captioner In Tears
Some of the TV broadcasts about Diana—her life and her funeral—were captioned by VITAC. It was the first time that VITAC had done live captioning. "I had tears pouring down my face, but I was writing so hard that I didn't have time to grab a tis sue," said VITAC captioner.
- Newswaves

Deaf Tribute
Diana will be the subject of a special tribute planned by the British Deaf Association. Deaf individuals will sign their experiences of Diana for a BDA videotape. For more information, contact: British Deaf Association, 1-2 Worship St., London, EC2AB, Eng land-UK.

New Patron
Prince Andrew, the brother of Prince Charles and Diana's former brother-in-law, is now the patron for the British Deaf Association. When Diana and Charles' marriage failed, Diana stopped being the patron of the BDA. "She told me that she needed more time for herself and her sons," said McWhinney. She supported the BDA's choice of Prince Andrew as her successor, he said. Andrew has agreed to learn BSL too, McWhinney said.

Deaf Royals
Diana became interested in deaf people when she learned that Queen Victoria, the famous British queen of the 1800's, knew sign language, McWhinney said. Perhaps Queen Victoria learned sign language because many members of Britain's royal family were deaf. Princess Alice, the great grandmother of Diana's children, William and Harry, was deaf. So was Alice's aunt the Queen Consort Alexandria. In Spain, Prince Don Jaime and Princess Maria Christina were deaf. King Albert of Belgium had a deaf father. The earliest example of royal deafness in England was probably Princess Katherine the daughter of Henry the VIII who was born deaf in 1273 and died when she was only four years old.

"No Nappies"
British and Americans sometimes use different words for the same things... In Britain, trucks are "lorries," elevators are "lifts," and diapers are "nappies." At the BDA's 1990 celebration, Diana—and many other people—had a funny experience when Nicola Young, the daughter of John Young and Lillian Lawson spoke with Diana. Nicola, 2, had just been toilet-trained. For the first time in her life, Nicola was at a big celebration in real grown-up underwear. Nicola had an important role in the celebration, too. It was her job to give Diana a beautiful bouquet of flowers. The big moment came and Nicola walked out on stage to meet Diana. She held the flowers, but she had something else on her mind. Instead of handing over the flowers, she pulled up her dress. "Look!" Nicola told Diana proudly. "No nappies!"

Diana—Changing Lives
"Diana's lasting legacy to the Deaf community is that we—the deaf and hearing people of Britain—are a more integrated society today," said McWhinney. "Diana helped change British people's perception of deaf people and sign language." For this reason, "Diana holds a special place in the hearts of Deaf people everywhere," he said.

Here is a look at the numbers:

1983—When Diana Became BDA Patron	Today
Less than 10 trained deaf sign tutors	1,000 trained sign tutors
Diana opens training center
No Deaf Studies programs	Six universities have Deaf Studies programs
	Over 200 trained sign interpreters
fewer than 200 people take language exams	20,000 hearing and deaf in sign class

Information from interviews, the British Deaf Association, and published reports; Photos courtesy of British Deaf Association

General comments may be sent to: ISCS.ClercCenter@gallaudet.edu

Last modified November 21, 1997
Copyright © 1997, All Rights Reserved
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center

Gallaudet University 800 Florida Ave. NE Washington, DC 20002-3695