On Friday, King Charles III danced with Anne Frank’s stepsister, who escaped Nazi death camps and has spent decades advocating for peace.
Eva Schloss, 93, and the king performed a Hanukkah dance at a Jewish community center in north London.
“He was sweet, he really took part, he seemed to enjoy it,” she said. “He was very relaxed.”
King Charles visited the JW3 community facility and chatted with pupils who were preparing gifts and food hampers for Camden households.
Dame Vivian Duffield stated that she created JW3 to provide a gathering place for the Jewish community in London to conserve and celebrate their heritage.
Schloss said: “Unfortunately, there is still anti-Semitism — people say Jewish people should go to Israel, this is England — but I hope we are getting over these prejudices.
“England is one of the rich countries in the world and we have to struggle with poverty and I hope King Charles will be able to manage this situation a little bit.
“I hope he will help make things easier for everybody and fight racism. I think he is a very good king.”
One of the chefs dropped to her knees with joy as King Charles visited the kitchen where a group of teenage immigrants were preparing cookies for Christmas hampers.
She said afterwards: “To be honest, I can’t explain the feeling. To see him live, I was like, oh my God. It was a nice feeling and I’m happy I was able to meet him.”
According to JW3 CEO Raymond Simonson, the king arrived with a car boot full of rice and tinned tuna for the contribution packs.
“The volunteers came and took it out the car and packed it up. That will stay with me for a while,” he said.
“There are 200 households we support around the Camden area and they don’t have enough food at Christmas and now they have food from the king as well as from our volunteers.”
The majority of the British-Jewish population, he noted, are refugees, and meeting the monarch validates their place in British culture.
“When you see the king visiting and saying happy Hanukkah, it says to people that the person in the highest seat accepts us,” he continued.
“It has been 365 years since we were readmitted after being expelled and to know that we are secure here and not in danger … that means so much to people.”