For Queen and country: Holocaust survivors gather to celebrate the Jubilee

Survivors of the Holocaust and ethnic cleansing met to recall how Britain gave them a new life and hope, as they celebrated the Queen on her Platinum Jubilee.

Emmerdale star Louisa Clein and the Jewish Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire Robert Voss were among the speakers at the event talking about their debt to Britain and Her Majesty.

Clein – whose mother was raised in Amsterdam but met her father working in England as a professional cellist – said: “My parents met here. This country has done so much for us. I’ve had a wonderful career here and brought three children into the world who would not be here if we have not been so welcomed.

“They have a Jewish identity but with very English accents.

“We all went to Parliament recently to watch my husband become a Queen’s Counsel and to see my sister collect her MBE.

“We all see the Queen as strong, courageous and inspiring. But now we are seeing her as more human than ever. No one can resist the advancing of the years – and I’m looking to her now as a mother, grandmother and a great grandmother dealing with the pandemic.

“We are seeing her at the height of her humanity – not as a monarch on a stamp or a coin, but as a woman facing the issues we can all relate to and understand.”

Another guest was the Lieutenant of Hertfordshire Robert Voss, the only Jewish Lord Lieutenant in Britain. His parents met in Britain after fleeing increasing antisemitism in Europe. He said: “Had they not been accepted I would not exist.

“It is amazing that I am Her Majesty’s personal representative. It says something for her and what she feels about people of all origins. She welcomes what we bring to this country – the diversity and history and our backgrounds.”