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==The royal family and circumcision==
There is a long-standing legend or legends about the royal family and its alleged practice of male circumcision that has long been circulated in the print media and orally. According to the legend:
:Queen Victoria believed that she was descended from the Jewish King David of the Bible. She had her sons circumcised in accordance with Jewish practice. After Queen Victoria's death succeeding generations of the royal family continued the practice.
:Both Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor, and Prince Charles were ritually circumcised by Dr. Jacob Snowman, a medical doctor and mohel. The practice ended when Prince Charles and Princess Diana had children. Princess Diana objected to the practice, so Princes William and Harry were not circumcised. Prince George also was not circumcised.
[[Robert Darby]] and John Cozijn thoroughly investigated the legend and were unable to verify any of it. Moreover, they showed evidence that it cannot be true.<ref name="darby2013">{{REFjournal
|last=Darby
|first=Robert
|init=
|author-link=Robert Darby
|last2=Cozijn
|first2=John
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|etal=no
|title=The British Royal Family’s Circumcision Tradition: Genesis and Evolution of a Contemporary Legend
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|language=
|journal=Sage
|location=
|date=2013-10-13
|volume=
|issue=
|article=
|page=
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|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244013508960
|archived=
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|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1177/2158244013508960
|accessdate=2021-09-04
}}</ref>
Although this long standing legend cannot be proved to be true, it was generally believed to be true. It is probable therefore, that many parents had their sons circumcised because the royal family was believed to do it.
There is some evidence that Prince Charles was non-ritually circumcised in 1948 by Dr [[Jacob Snowman]], a [[rabbi]] not by tradition, but by order of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who is the head of the Anglican Church. Non-therapeutic circumcision of children was still a recognised medical practice in 1948.
→The royal family and circumcision: Transfer out British royal family section.
|note=
}}</ref> The practice of male circumcision was well established in the United Kingdom as the nineteenth century ended.
==Twentieth century==