Royal aid: The Queen has taken to using a hearing aid

In all the glare of the media spotlight on the Harry and Meghan story, one less-reported royal tale may have slipped under the radar.

Her Majesty has recently been spotted sporting a hearing aid for what is believed to be the first time. (Although evidently she did wear ear plugs to protect her hearing at a concert in 2012 which celebrated her diamond jubilee, as she rocked out, if that’s the right expression here, to Elton John and Paul McCartney.)

Who knows how much of a recent development this is, and whether the sovereign had the aid fitted to follow the crisis talks about the future of her grandson and his wife more closely?

Equally, it’s not known whether the monarch used the NHS or procured the aids privately, although it’s highly likely to be the latter. Or even whether some lip-reading or sign language classes may follow.

However, a Harley Street audiology expert told one national newspaper he believed the queen’s gadget was a £2,000 top-of-the-range model, and guessed at it being a Signia Silk Nx, one of the world’s smallest, although he wasn’t 100% certain.

If it is indeed an in-the-ear aid, these are only available from private providers, and they fit entirely within the ear canal.

NHS England says these aren’t usually strong enough for someone experiencing a severe hearing loss.

And, according to the guidance, these aids will only help a person who has some residual hearing, and are most beneficial at helping catch daily sounds such as phones, doorbells and speech once hearing is starting to fade.

We can’t imagine Her Majesty has to answer her own phone or doorbell that often. But of course, she could appreciate the help given she needs to speak to (and hear) so many different people each day. And, clearly, anyone who takes positive action at this stage of their loss, while some hearing remains, is surely to be applauded.

Hawk-eyed royal watchers noticed Queen Elizabeth was wearing the brown and red gadget (tucked into the royal right ear) the day before the so-called Sandringham summit on the future of Harry and Meghan, when she travelled from her Norfolk estate to attend a service at nearby St Mary Magdalene Church. While there may also have been a device in the monarch’s other ear, this wasn’t seen.

This comes more than five years after the 93-year-old monarch’s husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, was first seen with his own behind-the-ear devices at a Buckingham Palace reception when he was the same age Elizabeth is now.

The latest story caused one paper to highlight the link between hearing loss in older people and dementia and social isolation, although the latter hardly seems likely to be a problem for Her Maj.

Maybe this will inspire other older people to get their hearing checked out, or to ask about hearing aids.

And, at the age of 93, the queen may not have found the hearing aid that easy to get used to.

According to Action on Hearing Loss, inner-ear damage is the single biggest cause of age-related hearing loss, while around 71% of those aged over 70 will experience some form of deafness.

Her Majesty’s aid isn’t the only hearing-related royal story currently in the news. Prince William recently showed off his BSL skills when he presented an MBE for services to deaf people and BSL education at Buckingham Palace to interpreter Alex Duguid, from South Shields. Himself deaf since an accident at the age of three, the interpreter has signed Coronation Street and Emmerdale for decades, and so is a familiar face to numerous fans.

Watch it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7TaW8il-pi/

Duguid is perhaps most widely known for a hilarious viral video clip which saw him popping up on screen at the same time something made Corrie character Liz McDonald jump, so that it appeared as though he had startled her.

The 76-year-old has also worked as a BSL teacher and assessor and campaigned and raised funds for the deaf community in his native South Tyneside.

William signed the words for ‘Congratulations, Alex,’ and was widely praised on social media for making the effort to do so.

In this the prince follows in the footsteps of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, a former patron of the British Deaf Association, who learned some BSL in the 1980s. And William’s grandfather, the Prince of Edinburgh, was previously patron of the RNID, as it used to be known.

Unfortunately, the duke may  be better remembered for one of his infamous gaffes, when he met some deaf youngsters back in 1999 near a steel band during a celebration in Cardiff.

He apparently pointed to the loudspeakers and said: “Deaf? If you are near there, no wonder,” before walking away. Evidently, he wasn’t joking, and, unsurprisingly, the remark was widely criticised in the deaf world and beyond at the time.

By Juliet England