Tracy-Ann Oberman receives MBE from King Charles
She was joined at the investiture at Windsor Castle by her husband Rob, daughter Annie and her mother
King Charles offered assuring words of support to the community this morning when he presented actor and campaigner Tracy-Ann Oberman with her MBE at Windsor Castle.
“The King was incredibly kind and understanding,” she said afterwards. “He said he does a lot of work with Holocaust survivors and understands the evils of Jew hatred.”
For Oberman, the honour which recognises services to holocaust education and combating antisemitism carried particular weight.
After years of antisemitic abuse online and threats that required security at theatres where she performed — the recognition felt personal.
Only recently she spoke about others in the creative industries who have stayed silent, while she remains one of the most visible Jewish voices confronting hatred in public life.
She was joined at the investiture by her husband Rob, daughter Annie and her mother who was emotional. “I’m terribly proud of Tracy and this honour for what she has achieved for our community, both on and off stage,” she said. “Her tireless work, standing up against prejudice has been inspirational.”
That courage, it seems, showed early. Her mother recalled entering her into a talent contest at the age of two to recite a nursery rhyme. ” On stage they asked her which rhyme she would perform, and she said – ‘I’m not. I’m going to play the piano.’ She had never seen a piano before, but that did not stop her plinking away before she was removed.” Decades on, that same determination has become a steadfast refusal to be silenced.
The honour comes at a busy moment in Tracy-Ann’s career as she just made her final appearance in EastEnders as Chrissie Watts and is about to star in The Holy Rosenbergs at the Menier Chocolate Factory, before appearing in her own adaptation of Noël Coward’s Private Lives.
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