Britain's Chief Rabbi Will Stay at Clarence House the Night Before King Charles's Coronation
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Britain's chief rabbi, Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, will stay with King Charles the night before the coronation in order to observe Shabbat. King Charles's coronation will take place Saturday, May 6, 2023, and Rabbi Mirvis and his wife, Valerie Mirvis, will stay at Clarence House the evening of Friday, May 5.
The royal couple are hosting the Mirvises because of Shabbat observance; the two cannot travel in a car or use other transportation on the Jewish holy day. Instead, they will walk from Clarence House to Westminster Abbey. According to the Telegraph, "the Chief Rabbi will also be celebrating the Shabbat occurring during coronation weekend with local communities."
There has only been one other coronation that has fallen on Shabbat in modern history: The coronation of King Edward VII, on Saturday, August 9, 1902. Edward VII's coronation was initially scheduled for Thursday, June 26, 1902, but two days before, he was diagnosed with appendicitis.
The Chief Rabbi of Britain at the time, Hermann Adler, attended the coronation on Shabbat. According to the Jewish Chronicle, Rabbi Adler stayed at nearby Western Synagogue, where he led Shabbat morning prayers before walking to Westminster Abbey. Unlike his predecessor, Rabbi Mirvis will have a royal sleepover at King Charles's home of Clarence House.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth, King Charles was also sensitive to Rabbi Mirvis's Shabbat observance, rescheduling a reception with faith leaders for earlier on the Friday so the Chief Rabbi could return to his local synagogue before sundown.
At the time, a source told the Jewish Chronicle, "Of all the things the royal staff have to consider, with the crazy schedule the King has at the moment, to move things around out of respect for the Chief Rabbi and Shabbat is quite a gesture. It wasn’t like the Chief Rabbi’s office told them Shabbat would be an issue. The Palace took the initiative and phoned up and said, don’t worry about it, we have realized it will clash with Shabbat so we will move it for you. It was absolutely wonderful of them and characteristic of the King."
On BBC a few days later, Rabbi Mirvis shared, "This showed his deep concern for other faiths, his respect for other faiths. It’s great—he’s now the head of the church but at the same time, he’s the champion of other faiths."
Rabbi Mirvis has been chief rabbi of the United Kingdom since 2013.
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