Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Why British Jews Love the Royal Family

The most important thing about a hereditary monarchy is that the line of hereditary succession should be secured. That is why the news that the Duchess of Cambridge (the future Queen) has given birth to a son has been greeted so enthusiastically here in England and throughout the British Commonwealth. Ignore the protests of republicans: As the Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations showed last year, hereditary monarchism is very much alive and well throughout the land. And there is no section of Her Majesty’s subjects more in tune with this sentiment than the Jews.

Within a few hours of the royal birth, Jewish representative groups were falling over themselves to present their loyal congratulations. We can expect rabbis of various persuasions to refer to this auspicious occasion in their Shabbat sermons. And gifts with a distinctly Jewish flavor will surely follow.

But the Anglo-Jewish infatuation with the British monarchy is of comparatively recent origin. Jews were expelled from England by King Edward I in 1290, and the landmark agreement for the Readmission of the Jews to England (1656) was only effected once Charles I had been beheaded and a republic declared under “Lord Protector” Oliver Cromwell.

It was also thanks to the Hanoverians that the custom arose of having royal sons circumcised by Jewish mohelim. I was circumcised in 1944 by the late Reverend Dr Jacob Snowman; four years later Snowman circumcised Prince Charles. (Whether the new royal prince will be similarly serviced remains to be seen, but is already the subject of much debate.)

For more go to Haaretz

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.