Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal arrive at Westminster Abbey for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (Photo by Geoff Pugh - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
One of the few Britons to have been present at the coronation of George VI – viewed from her father’s shoulders in 1937, at the age of three – Mrs Marks received an MBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours, for her lifetime of volunteering and charity work.
"It was an honour to have been picked for this amazing occasion,” she told the JC. “As a very small child I was present at George VI’s coronation and as a teenager at his funeral. I was at the Queen's coronation and now at her funeral. It has come full circle somehow.”
Across the aisle sat 73-year-old interfaith campaigner Richard Stroud of Shadwell in Leeds, his distinctive red and blue kippah visible around the world on the live broadcast.
It had been made for the occasion of Prince Edward’s 2019 visit to the Bradford Synagogue, which was founded in 1873 by Mr Stroud’s great grandfather, Rabbi Joseph Strauss.
“It was an honour to represent the Jewish Community along with Chief Rabbi and the President of the Board of Deputies,” Mr Stroud said.
The funeral began after 200 bagpipers and bandsmen, followed by pursuivants, heralds and kings of arms accompanied the late Queen’s coffin from Westminster Hall to the Abbey. The awesome sound of the pipers and the parade of 1,650 servicemen set the tone as the coffin entered the Abbey to be carried solemnly past the 2,000 people gathered for the funeral.
In the second row, just by the western entrance, 88-year-old member of Ealing United Synagogue, Ella Marks, bowed her head in respect. One of the few Britons to have been present at the coronation of George VI, Mrs Marks had been invited to the funeral after she was awarded an MBE earlier this year in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, for her lifetime of volunteering and charity work.
She told the JC the event was “amazing and incredibly impressive”, adding: “It was an honour to have been picked. It was an amazing occasion. As a very small child I was present at George VI’s coronation and as a teenager at his funeral. I was at the Queen's coronation and now at her funeral. It has come full circle somehow.”
Seventy-three-year-old interfaith campaigner Richard Stroud of Shadwell in Leeds sat opposite her, wearing a distinctive red and blue kippah that he had made for Prince Edward’s visit to Bradford Synagogue in 2019. His great grandfather, Joseph Strauss, was the founding rabbi of the synagogue, in 1873.
“It was an honour to represent the Jewish community along with the chief rabbi and the president of the Board of Deputies,” he said.
The Friday before the funeral, the King had convened a special reception for faith leaders, with Buckingham Palace making personal assurances to the Chief Rabbi that it would be timed to end well before Shabbat.
King Charles speaks to Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis at a reception for faith leaders in Buckingham Palace on Friday 16th September. (Photo by Aaron Chown - WPA Pool / Getty Images)
This pledge to “protect the diversity in our country” was reflected by the prominent positions in which faith leaders were seated at the funeral; and is characteristic of the King, who has been a steadfast friend of the Jewish community for many years.
Shortly before the funeral, the Chief Rabbi remarked that the national mood was imbued with “a wonderful sense of warmth, of unity and of harmony”.
“Why can’t we keep that sense of unity and harmony?” he asked. “I believe the ultimate tribute to the legacy of Her Majesty the Queen will be if in her memory we guarantee that we now will have a harmonious and united society.”
Describing the late Queen’s legacy as “enormous”, he added: “It’s so important for us not just to remember her qualities and her values but for them to be reflected through us in the future.
“She was an exceptional person. It is unlikely that we will come across such a person ever again in our lifetimes, so let’s pay honour to her by being just like her.”
Indeed, as Her Majesty lay in state, with long queues stretching for miles through London, the Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism, Jonathan Wittenberg, joined a team of multi-faith chaplains to offer support.
“The brief was to look out for people who were upset, or might be crying or struggling, who might want to talk,” he said.
He was not the only Jew in the queue, which has since become an icon of Britishness. On Friday, former footballer David Beckham – whose son Brooklyn married in a semi-Jewish ceremony earlier this year – queued for 12 hours to view Her Majesty’s coffin.
Beckham 47, won plaudits when he eschewed a VIP place, instead joining the hundreds of thousands who queued for hours to see her.
He reportedly told friends that his Jewish grandfather, a royalist, wouldn’t have jumped the queue so neither would he.
There could be nothing more Jewish, and nothing more British, than that. Throughout the late Queen's reign, this country and its Jews have been good to one another. Under the reign of King Charles III, this is certain to continue.
