His Majesty The King
Buckingham Palace
London SW1A 1AA
27 April 2023
Sir,
On the occasion of the Coronation of Your Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort, we, the British Deaf Association (BDA), wish to extend to Your Majesty our sincere congratulations and best wishes for yourself and your family, and our hopes for the welfare and prosperity of the people of United Kingdom.
The BDA is the only national deaf-led charity in the UK which represents and advocates for the signing community. We are proud that our language, British Sign Language (BSL), was recognised in law as a language of Great Britain, last year. We are grateful to Her Late Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II, for granting Royal Assent on 28th April 2022. Fittingly, this was followed later in the year with full BSL signed coverage of Her Late Majesty’s funeral on BBC Two. This was the first time the Deaf community was able to have full access to such a momentous occasion. We are delighted to see the same access is being put in place for your Coronation, with BSL interpreted provision of all Saturday’s events on BBC2.
Her Late Majesty’s legacy will live on in the Deaf community and we shall look forward to #TakingBSLForward with Your Majesty to progress towards the full inclusion of Deaf people in British society.
I have the honour to be, Sir, Your Majesty's humble and obedient servant.
Yours sincerely
Rebecca Mansell
Chief Executive
