King Charles coronation: How are British Israelis marking the occasion?

On Saturday, King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla will be crowned in the first coronation held in Britain for many decades following the late queen Elizabeth II’s record-breaking 70-year reign that ended with her death in September.

Costing the United Kingdom a whopping £50-100 million, the coronation is slated to be a big affair, which the country has been preparing for months. For context, in today’s monetary terms, Charles’s coronation will cost two and a half to five times the cost of Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.

With such a hefty tab, one would expect the anticipation to be just as high. But is it?

Previous royal events – such as royal weddings and, most recently, Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, which was celebrated last year – have drawn massive crowds throughout London who want to take part in the special occasions. This excitement would spread to the British Jewish communities who would organize celebratory events, like kiddush parties on Shabbat; British expats would organize parties in their countries of residence, taking some of the cheer abroad.

But this time, there is not the same sense of excitement. It even borders on indifference. Yes, people are still planning and attending events to celebrate the coronation, but there’s an almost across-the-board lack of enthusiasm.

“Honestly, I’ve heard nothing about the coronation,” said one Jewish Londoner. “Not even [from] non-Jews. People seem totally unbothered by the whole thing.”

This sentiment is reflected in a YouGov poll of UK adults’ feelings about the coronation. Only 33% of Brits responded that they care at all about the event; the other 67% didn’t care very much, or at all, or said they didn’t know.

This doesn’t mean that British Jews aren’t marking the event, though. While many Jews will be unable to watch the coronation because they keep Shabbat, some synagogues are hosting special kiddushes in honor of the coronation. But this is not the case for all Jewish communities. Others that marked the Jubilee last year are not marking this week’s event.

One British Jew who will surely be celebrating the coronation, however, is UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who will be participating in the ceremony. Special allowances have been made so that he can attend the event. He and his wife, Valerie, will stay with the royal couple at Clarence House on Friday night so that they can easily walk to Westminster Abbey and not drive in a car, which is prohibited on Shabbat. 

Also, for the first time, religious leaders from other religions will take part in the procession and ceremony. These leaders will bless the new king and queen consort, but Mirvis is the only one allowed to forgo using the microphone so that he doesn’t violate Shabbat.

SO HOW will the coronation be marked by Brits in Israel?

How will British Israelis mark King Charles's coronation?

The British Embassy, led by Ambassador Neil Wigan, will begin celebrating the event on Saturday with a party open to the public at Tel Aviv’s Park HaTachana. Festivities will include British music, art workshops, and a live broadcast of the coronation on a huge screen. Wigan will speak at the event, which he will attend with other embassy representatives.

On Sunday, Wigan will host a reception at his Ramat Gan residence, to be attended by a wide range of people from across Israeli society. 

“I’m looking forward to celebrating this historic milestone over the coming weekend,” he said. “Whether it’s alongside the general public here in Israel at our community event in Tel Aviv or with our colleagues and contacts at the embassy’s special coronation reception. 

“It’s wonderful to see how involved and excited Israelis are when it comes to the royal family. It has been 70 years since the UK celebrated a new monarch, and it’s incredible to be part of such a unique celebration around the world.”

“It’s wonderful to see how involved and excited Israelis are when it comes to the royal family. It has been 70 years since the UK celebrated a new monarch, and it’s incredible to be part of such a unique celebration around the world.”

Niles Wigan

But are Israelis and British olim as excited and involved as Wigan says they are?

British olim seem to be following the trend that the Jewish communities are exhibiting in England. While companies and businesses are hoping to capitalize on the event, there doesn’t seem to be as much in the way of community events.

Leket Israel, a leading food rescue initiative in Israel, is organizing a Royal Pic-king event on Friday, whereby volunteers can help collect produce for the organization.

Meanwhile, Jerusalem’s Kumkum Tea House, which offers a full English tea experience year round, is hosting special tea afternoons today until Monday (closed on Shabbat but will open with a special event on Saturday night) in honor of the coronation, as well as special coronation tea boxes that can be pre-ordered. Snap a selfie while you’re there with the life-size cardboard cutouts of the king and queen consort. 

Some Brits in Israel are hosting events of their own. A woman named Rebecca, for instance, will be showing her love and support for the monarchy by hosting and joining events throughout the weekend. On Friday, she’ll be hosting a celebratory dinner, complete with British-themed decorations, and a King Charles trivia contest with a crown for the winner. Of course, she’ll be tuning in to watch the live event. 

“It’s exciting!” she said. “The last coronation was 70 years ago, so for many, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Other Brits in Israel will be joining their friends for smaller gatherings over the weekend or just staying in to watch the event live with friends or family, or alone. Some even expressed difficulty finding an event to attend.

Others are completely indifferent, like Moshe, who will be marking the coronation by “having a shluff (nap)” or Ruthie, who will simply be “celebrating Shabbat.”

What’s behind the lower enthusiasm for this particular royal event?

It may be a generational issue. The YouGov poll showed that the largest percentage of people who said they care about the coronation were over age 50, while the majority who said they didn’t care were younger.

Those over 70 may remember the excitement of the 1953 coronation, which coincided with the emergence of home television sets. People who were alive at the time recall how novel it was for friends and family to crowd around the TV and watch the coronation together.

Elizabeth II’s coronation, a major event in the aftermath of World War II, marked a fresh start for the nation. A young queen was being crowned, and the country was looking to the future after the war in a ceremony that was watched across the country with technology that was a novelty.

Today, the situation is different. As the UK comes out of a winter where many struggled to afford heating due to the high cost of living, the more than £50 million royal event is not the hopeful affair it was in the post-war era.

The festivities also may be slightly marred by the family dramas that have resurged in the last years. At over 70, the new king is no stranger to drama, having been the center of it in the 1980s and ’90s with Diana, his late ex-wife and mother of his children.

But even if the world has moved past this 30-year-old affair, there is still the issue of Charles’s brother Andrew, who was the center of scandal due to his affiliation with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew was sued for sexual abuse by Virginia Giuffre, with whom he reached a settlement. In light of the scandal, Andrew was stripped of his official His Royal Highness title, as well as his military titles. More recently, Charles tried to evict Andrew from the Royal Lodge, but Andrew has been refusing to leave his long-time residence.

In more public drama, Charles’s son Harry, and his wife Meghan, broke away from the royal family and moved to the US three years ago. They have been giving multiple interviews; famously, in an exchange with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan said that while she was pregnant, a member of the royal family was concerned about what her son’s skin color would be. 

Harry’s book, Spare, describes mistreatment by the royal family, among other alleged offenses. The couple have also been stripped of their royal titles, and the family dispute will be the elephant in the room as Harry attends the coronation without his wife. He will not be allowed to wear a uniform like his brother William, the Prince of Wales.

To some, this coronation may feel less like a fresh start and more like another episode in the Royal Family Drama.

With the lower sense of enthusiasm surrounding the coronation and the changing attitudes of the younger generations, many are speculating whether this will be the last coronation that the British royal family sees. So just in case, pop some bubbly and put the kettle on for tea. You may as well enjoy it while it lasts. 