First Duke of Sussex was ‘greatest royal philosemite’
AFTER 175 long years, the title of the Duke of Sussex has been pulled from the shelf, dusted off and handed to the newly-wed Prince Harry.
What you might not know is that his only predecessor as Duke was perhaps Britain’s greatest royal philosemite.
Prince Augustus Frederick, the ninth child of King George III, was wellknown for his liberal views and worked to remove existing civil restrictions on Jews — most notably the bar on sitting in Parliament.
Research by Doreen Berger, vice-president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, found that the Duke was also a supporter of the Jews’ Hospital and Orphan Asylum, which evolved into the Norwood Jewish charity. He was a close friend of Lionel de Rothschild, supporting his campaign to become the first Jewish MP.
When Moses Montefiore was knighted, the Duke said it was “one of the things I have worked for all my life”.
Ms Berger, an expert in Anglo-Jewish history, said Prince Augustus was considered “something of a black sheep” in the royal family, but was “extremely popular among the Jewish upper classes”.
She added: “Let’s hope that it will be a good omen for the future.”
The dukedom was not passed on when the prince died in 1843, while his 14th century copy of the Tanach was sold to the British Museum.
IT’S ABOUT 3,200 miles from Windsor Castle to a downtown Montreal shoe shop. But Saturday’s royal nuptials brought them a little closer.
Three children in the wedding party belonged to Jessica Mulroney — nee Brownstein — scion of the Quebec Jewish family behind Browns, one of Canada’s largest footwear chains.
Married to dashing Canuck television presenter Ben Mulroney, the eldest son of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Jessica saw her twin boys, Brian and
John, as page boys in the ceremony. Ivy, their fouryear-old sister, was one of the bridesmaids.
So who is Jessica Mulroney?
A 38-year-old fashion stylist and frequent chat-show guest, Ms Mulroney was born in Montreal to Stephen and Veronica Brownstein, clothing manufacturers whose success helped buy a pile in the exclusive enclave of Westmount.
Her extended family also controls one of Canada’s retail empires. Great-uncle Benjamin Brownstein founded Browns Shoes as a single Montreal shop in 1940. Browns now operates 60 stores nationwide; second cousin Michael Brownstein is its chief executive. While Jessica worked for her father for a short time, she and sister Elizabeth launched a sleepwear and lingerie distribution company on their own, winning Canadian rights to brands La Perla and Cosabella, according to an adoring July 2017 have been dubbed “Toronto’s most polished power couple”.
A photo in the Toronto Life piece depicted Jessica and Ben at a swanky Toronto restaurant with another familiar couple — Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister and First Lady. Cementing that relationship, Ms Gregoire-Trudeau turned to Ms Mulroney as her style advisor for her husband’s 2015 inauguration.
Around the same time, Ms Mulroney became “great friends” with an actress named Meghan Markle, who had moved to the city for her recurring role in TV legal drama Suits.
Montreal is my birthplace, and Toronto is now a home base. But none of my contacts, many of whom Toronto Life know the magazine Brownsteins, profile. would comment The Mulroneys Among the for this
prominent and Jewish guests
TV producer were piece.
Ben Winston and
Brownsteins wife Meredith Only Antoinette were neighbours in Westmount, and DiCarlo, Ben and Jessica met as children. After a a renowned Montreal couturier long courtship and short engagement, who designed Ms Mulroney’s nowrenowned the pair had their own “royal” wedding cobalt-blue dress for the in 2008; in a ceremony blessed wedding, would go on the record by a rabbi and priest at Montreal’s about her client. neo-Gothic St Patrick’s Basilica, guests “Jessica was lovely to work with and including Margaret Thatcher and the entire process was completely George HW Bush watched the couple organic,” Ms Di Carlo told me. “She recite vows they wrote themselves. is an incredible ambassador for the
The couple now live in Toronto, Canadian fashion industry.” where they command front-page Expect to read more about her as social status. She is regarded as a Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, settles into “social-media juggernaut” and they her new role.