Nationality British Name Domenica Lawson | Occupation Student Siblings Savannah Lawson | |
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Full Name Domenica Marianna Tertia Lawson Born June 1, 1995 (age 28) ( 1995-06-01 ) Alma mater City College Brighton and Hove Known for Down's syndrome advocacy Parents Rosa Monckton, Dominic Lawson Cousins Cosima Thomasina Diamond, Bruno Paul Diamond Grandparents Nigel Lawson, Vanessa Salmon, Gilbert Monckton, 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, Marianna Letitia Bower Uncles Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley Aunts Nigella Lawson, Thomasina Lawson, Emily Lawson, Horatia Lawson | ||
Domenica Lawson is a British Down's Syndrome awareness advocate and member of the English gentry. She initially came into the public eye when Diana, Princess of Wales became her godmother, as Diana and Domenica's mother The Honourable Rosa Monckton were close personal friends.
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Domenica has many family members in the public eye; her father is Dominic Ralph Campden Lawson, son of The Right Honourable Nigel Lawson,The Lord Lawson of Blaby. Through her father, The Honourable Nigella Lawson is her aunt and the environmentalist George Monbiot and Fiona Sara Shackleton, Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia are her first cousins once removed.
Biography
Domenica Marianna Tertia Lawson was born to Dominic Lawson and The Honourable Rosa Monckton on June 1, 1995. Rosa is the daughter of Laetitia Bower and Gilbert Monckton, 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley. The decision of her parents to not terminate the pregnancy was criticized by columnist Claire Rayner, who lamented that society would "have to bear the burden" of her Down's syndrome prognosis. Her birth "gave the Down Syndrome community in Britain a powerful public voice..." This was only heightened when Princess Diana asked Rosa if she could be Domenica's godmother.
Domenica has an older sister named Savannah Lawson. A year before Domenica was born, a stillborn daughter named Natalia Lawson was born at 22 weeks and did not survive.
Upon Princess Diana's death in 1997, Domenica was bequeathed personal items of Diana's listed in her will.
As of 2014, she was studying catering at City College Brighton and Hove while working part-time at a pub.
Advocacy
In September 2015, British actress Ursula Presgrave posted on Facebook "Anyone born with down syndrome should be put down, it's just cruel to let them lead a pointless life of a vegetable." Domenica penned a response to Presgrave, stating, "With Downs syndrome we are born this way and we are not like vegetables — that's a mad thing to say. This is my life. You can't say put Down's Syndrome people down like a dog — it's upsetting and it's not on. So what if we are Down's Syndrome — it makes us who we are. We are real people."