'Circumcision is one of the oddities of the Royal Family'

[Jesus Malverde]

It is one of the oddities of the Royal Family -- shared by the majority of the English upper classes -- that for many generations they have circumcised their male sons, invariably using a Mohel, the Jewish word for a circumcision practitioner. It was rarely done on medical grounds, nor on religious ones, but was a matter of class.

This has prompted some speculation as to whether the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will chose to follow suit. Understandably, Clarence House will not comment on such a private and delicate matter.

However, it is unlikely because the connection between class and circumcision, which continued up into the 1970s, has all but died out in Britain. Indeed by the time the Duke of Cambridge himself was born in 1982, it is understood that Diana, the Princess of Wales, refused to continue the tradition, in keeping with the then medical opinion that it was an unnecessary procedure whose risks outweighed any possible benefits.

The NHS now tries to guide parents away from the practice and the most recent figures suggest just 3.8 per cent of male babies are circumcised in the UK. This is down from a rate of 20 per cent in the 1950s, when there was a belief, especially among those who could afford to have it done privately, that it was more hygienic.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/10201882/Circumcision-is-one-of-the-oddities-of-the-Royal-Family.html

Whether the royal baby is getting the royal snip is our new obsession
http://now.msn.com/royal-baby-circumcision-decision-still-to-be-revealed

Britain Wonders if Baby Prince Will be Circumcised; Prince Charles Snipped by Royal Mohel
http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/07/24/britain-wonders-if-baby-prince-will-be-circumcised-prince-charles-snipped-by-royal-mohel/

[FSogol]

1. Batten down the hatches, DU, it's a Royal Family Circumcision thread!

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Do you suppose that they do it while at Olive Garden nursing their pit bull & smoking fried chicken?

[hlthe2b]

7. Let the pitbull mascot for Olive Garden (and resident guardian of nursing Moms) do it...

I keed, I keed.

[HappyMe]

4. ....

[Historic NY]

19. Thats the "cutting edge" of modern media reporting.

[liberal N proud]

2. Optimism: cutting off an inch before you know how big it will get.

[LeftofObama]

5. !

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. This should end well

[CTyankee]

8. My husband asked, after the royal birth, when's the bris?

but of course you don't have to have a mohel to do it. My obstetrician did it for my son (he was Jewish, we parents were not).

[RebelOne]

18. My doctor did for my son in his office when my son was only 2 weeks old.

My husband and I were not Jewish and neither was the doctor. My sister who married a Jewish guy had two sons and they each had a bris.

[Blue Owl]

9. Everywhere you look, weiners keep rearing their ugly heads

n/t

[pinboy3niner]

13. The mohel things change, the mohel they remain the same. nt

[Agschmid]

14. It's not so ugly uncircumcised.

[TroglodyteScholar]

25. Who are you trying to fool?

It's ugly no matter how you slice it....

[Behind the Aegis]

28. Nope, then it is just fugly.

[Hoyt]

10. This thread is causing me great pain.

[DJ13]

11. Im glad you only posted a snip of that article

[Agschmid]

15. I declare you the wiener!

[Bonobo]

12. The job of Mohel doesn't pay well.

That's why they always take tips.

[LittleBlue]

16. ...

Love that one

[Mr. David]

21. Our local mohel is a jeweler on his day job.

He did a good job with my son.

[dflprincess]

26. That reminds me of this SNL "ad"

At the time one of the car companies was claiming their car had such a smooth ride a jeweler could cut a diamond while riding in the back seat.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/hl-4597098/saturday_night_live_royal_deluxe_ii_season_3/

"A beautiful baby & a beautiful car."

[Ron Obvious]

17. At least...

At least they're not circumcising their female sons.

[Historic NY]

20. I heard that Prince William said take a little off the top.

[bluestate10]

22. And try not to take anything off the bottom. nt

[flvegan]

23. I'm so glad I'm around for this thread.

[zbdent]

24. a snip off the old block ...

or a chip off the young bloke?

[customerserviceguy]

27. "Understandably, Clarence House will not comment on such a private and delicate matter."

So this is where they chose to draw the line? I thought we had TMI for the last ten days!

[HiPointDem]

29. if the royals circumcize but the commoners don't, what is the origin of this distinction?

[muriel_volestrangler]

30. There isn't a particular distinction

apart from the affordability of a minor, but pointless, op. As the links say, when the last generation of the royal family had it done, about 20% of British people did; the NHS doesn't (and didn't) do it for free unless there is thought to be a medical need (and medical opinion, which used to think that it was a good idea with some tight foreskins, has turned away from that in the past 50 years or so), and so it would have been restricted to those that could afford a private op. Quite a few people did, including the royal family, but not everyone. Now, it's basically only Muslims and Jews.

I think it's worth pointing out that Britain really doesn't give a toss about this. This is not a common topic for discussion.

[Jesus Malverde]

31. King George I

Circumcision for members of the royal family in England dates back to King George I, who introduced the custom. Queen Victoria traced the British royal family’s tree back to ancient Israel’s King David, and insisted that her sons be circumcised along the lines of Jewish tradition, which calls for foreskin to be snipped on the eighth day after birth.

Edward VII, the Duke of Windsor and Prince Charles all had their foreskins removed, the latter by Jacob Snowman GP, at Buckingham Palace in 1948. Charles’ brothers Andrew and Edward were also snipped.

According to Anthony Holden’s biography of Prince Charles, cited by the Evening Standard, Jacob Snowman was summoned to the palace five days after Charles’s christening. Snowman was a mohel, a religious circumcision specialist, from London’s Jewish community, and he was chosen over the royal physician to perform the ritual.

http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/07/24/britain-wonders-if-baby-prince-will-be-circumcised-prince-charles-snipped-by-royal-mohel/