Kosher News
Kosher By Appointment – Royal Shomrim at Buckingham Palace
Tuesday 25th February 1997. Her Royal Majesty the Queen hosted the President of Israel, Ezer Weizman for a Royal Banquet to mark the first state visit to Great Britain by an Israeli Head of State. With 200 guests to cater for and some 50 keeping kosher, there was just one major issue that the Palace had to contend with; providing a high quality kosher meal to match the menu that was being served to the other guests. A pre-packaged kosher meal may suffice in other settings but would certainly be frowned upon in Buckingham Palace, an establishment renowned for its perfection and where the Queen personally ensures that the napkins are precisely 17 inches apart.
The solution? Enter Rabbi Jeremy Conway, Director of KLBD and his team of shomrim (supervisors employed by the Kashrut Department who ensure that the food is prepared and cooked in accordance to the laws of kashrut).
During his first state visit to the UK in February 1997, the President of Israel, Ezer Weizman, attended many lavish functions held in his honour including one hosted by the Israeli Embassy, one by the City of London and a reception at the King David Suite. The main banquet at Buckingham Palace though, was going to be a challenge for the KLBD.
Usually, when a kosher function is held at a venue without a kosher kitchen, the caterer will bring in their own crockery and cutlery on which to serve the guests. This doesn’t happen in Buckingham Palace as her Royal Majesty the Queen has to have everything matching and requires all guests to use Palace crockery.
In an effort to provide a solution for the guests who keep kosher, Rabbi Conway paid an advance visit to Buckingham Palace together with Tony Page, the Kosher Caterer selected for this prestigious event. They were met by the Master of Household “F" Branch, (F for Food), a polite, helpful and somewhat genteel person who was highly respectful as Rabbi Conway gave his spiel about the basics of kashrut and what exactly would be required to ensure a kosher meal for the guests. Upon explaining the requirement for all crockery, cutlery and other equipment to be kosher or dipped into boiling water (!), the Master of The Household introduced them another key member of the Palace staff - the Butler of Silver Pantry. Showing them around his treasure house, shelves of glittering dishes and the finest china, he offered them a choice of cutlery and crockery in either gold or silver which would be used by all the guests at the Banquet. The golden plates and bowls were chosen and because they were actually vessels of gold, rather than china or earthenware, Rabbi Conway explained that they would be able to kosher them.
Rabbi Conway was extremely impressed by the helpfulness and sang-froid of the Royal Household who went out of their way to conform to the needs of the kosher keepers, even when told that their centuries old gold crockery was to be plunged into boiling water as part of the koshering process! The Butler (of the Silver Pantry) then showed Rabbi Conway the fine bone china plates they intended using for dessert. Because china cannot be koshered, Rabbi Conway asked if perhaps they had some new ones in the stores which had not yet been used. “I don’t think so Sir,” he replied in the poshest English accent possible, “they’re George the Third you know!” Fortunately, as the fruit was all cold, the Beth Din gave special dispensation to use the George the Third!
The next visit to Buckingham Palace a few days before the banquet, was to kasher the cutlery and crockery. How would the staff know which plates had been koshered? Rabbi Conway stuck a very small KLBD sticker on the underside of each plate, and in all probability, he says, they are still there to this day! Another tricky issue were the wines which also had to be kosher. Once again, the Master of Household listened intently as Rabbi Conway explained the difference between pasteurized (mevushal) and non-pasteurized wines. The finest wines tend to be non-pasteurized. However, non-pasteurized wine could only be served by Shomrei-Shabbat waiters! So, where do you find the finest kosher wine which would be acceptable to The Queen and how do you serve the wine when the Palace wine butlers aren’t Jewish?
Incredibly, breaking with Palace protocol, the Master of Household permitted the entry of a small number of Jewish wine pourers. This was a huge concession and once again showed the extent that the Palace staff was willing to go to ensure that their Jewish guests would feel comfortable and catered for at the highest level of cuisine and kashrut.
The hunt was now on to find a fine Red which would be acceptable to Her Majesty. After two fruitless weeks of scouring Europe, including a visit to the South of France, the Palace called to say that they had found an acceptable wine in the Palace Wine cellar. Questioning the authenticity of this kosher wine, Rabbi Conway inquired about the circumstances under which a kosher red wine had come into the Palace possession. He was told that a case of an excellent, gold medal award winning Israeli wine had been presented to the Queen by the Israeli Embassy some years previously and had been stored in the cellar just waiting for the right occasion!
The Royal Banquet: Tuesday 25th February 1997
At the Royal Banquet, Rabbi Conway was present alongside a couple of shomrim and five Jewish wine waiters. He witnessed the magnificent layout of the banqueting tables, with the crockery and cutlery being placed in perfect symmetry and not three but six glasses to be used during the banquet for Champagne, Red wine, White wine, water, Champagne to go with the pudding and the port. It is well known that the Queen personally carries out a final check to ensure everything has been laid perfectly. Everything has to be exact and precise, such as the requirement that the napkins are laid out exactly 17 inches away from the next one.
During the Royal Banquet all the staff were able to witness the monumental occasion on a CCTV screen just outside the Ballroom. A moment of personal emotion for Rabbi Conway came during the rendition of Hatikva as he recalled his grandfather’s involvement in the epic struggle for the creation of the State of Israel only 50 years earlier. This was followed by a wonderful toast given by the Queen to President of Israel Ezer Weizmann which she ended with a cheery “L’Chaim!”
Summing up the event, Rabbi Conway said, “The event was incredibly inspiring in many ways, not least to see the respect and veneration the Palace showed for our ancient Biblical traditions and Jewish practises, as well as for the opportunity to experience at close hand the pomp and ceremony of monarchy, and recite the bracha “Blessed are You...King of the Universe, who has given of His glory to Flesh and Blood”.
