King’s coronation brought to life for blind and visually impaired children by Newbury charity, Living Paintings
The coronation of King Charles III will be a once-in-a-lifetime sight for us all.
But blind and visually impaired children won’t experience the celebration in the same way.
Kingsclere-based charity Living Paintings is leading a project to create an inclusive sensory coronation experience.
With imagery so ingrained in the event, more than 26,000 blind and visually impaired children and young people in the UK risk feeling excluded.
The project ‘Coronation: The Sensory Experience for Blind Children’ has taken key elements from the coronation ceremony and turned them into tactile, raised images.
Each one – for example, the St Edward’s Crown – comes with a specially recorded audio description and entertaining commentary, facts and information.
It also includes the profile portrait of King Charles that will become the iconic image of his reign.
“There will be huge excitement in witnessing all the pageantry and history of the coronation,” said charity CEO Camilla Oldland.
“And it simply breaks our heart to think that so many blind and visually impaired children and young people might feel unable to fully engage in the celebrations.
“We knew we had to do something incredible to bring it all to life for them in an accessible and inclusive way.”
Audio guides are read by a range of well-known voices including Roman Kemp, Mel Giedroyc, Omid Djalili and Sir Derek Jacobi.
Friend of Living Paintings Dame Joanna Lumley said: “It was a pleasure and privilege to record the audio description of St Edward’s Crown for blind children.
“Now I know that it weighs as much as four tins of baked beans, my respect for His Majesty – already sky-high – becomes stratospheric.
“Knowing that children around the country will be able to see the crown through touch and experience the ceremony better because of the wonderful people at Living Paintings fills me with awe.”
She added: “I shall be at the coronation, in humbler headwear, but still bursting with pride that we shall have shown blind children a pivotal part of the fabulous ceremony.”
