On Monday, the news of England’s newborn male heir to the throne rippled across the world. Naturally, the first thing I thought was, “Thank goodness this boy has a good chance of keeping his foreskin!”
Now, before you launch a tirade against (or for) the British monarchy, let me say this: What you think of the monarchs is irrelevant. But this baby is famous, and if he keeps his foreskin, as we think he will, that’s NEWS!
MSN.com has posted an article on its website titled, “Whether the royal baby is getting the royal snip is our new obsession,” and the question is trending on Twitter, too. I’m thrilled that major media outlets are talking about the royal newborn’s foreskin in the same breath as the news of the birth itself.
Of course, the status of royal genitalia has made the news before. People lauded (and criticized) Diana for breaking with tradition (it is said that Queen Victoria had her boys circumcised) and leaving her two sons William and Harry intact. The paparazzi had a field day when Prince William was caught relieving himself on a soccer match’s sidelines in 2008, inadvertently showing the world he’s holding on to the full monty. (It should go without saying that the photos on that page are NSFW.) And now little Georgie’s genitals are the subject of public concern, in a way that’s far more benign than those of the other guy making the news, Anthony you-know-who.
Keep your fingers crossed, and send all good thoughts and vibes to those new parents. Let’s hope that in this case, “looking like Dad” will work out for all concerned.
Georganne Chapin
barceno
July 24, 2013 11:25 pmThe odds are that HRH Prince George of Cambridge is going to stay intact. And here’s why:
We know that the British royal family has practiced infant circumcision. That is not in dispute; Queen Elizabeth’s 3 sons were cut at birth. At least one, Prince Charles, was circumcised by a Jewish mohel.
But Queen Victoria had nothing to do with this. The idea that the royal circumcision tradition started with her is pure myth. As medical historian Dr. Frederick Hodges has noted, absolutely no evidence exists linking Prince Albert or Queen Victoria and circumcision. They almost certainly had no reason or inclination to circumcise their 4 sons. The firstborn, Prince Leopold, was a hæmophiliac and circumcision would have killed him in infancy.
King George V assumed the throne when his mother, Queen Victoria, died. He would have been intact, but very likely had his sons circumcised, including the future Kings Edward VIII and George VI — the father of the current queen. Circumcision had been promoted for about 20 years by the time of his birth in 1895. Likewise, given circumcision’s popularity in the late 19th and early 20th century among British aristrocracy and gentry, if either the queen or her sister had been male instead they almost certainly would have been circumcised.
We don’t know if Prince Charles had his two sons circumcised, as he is. Some reports suggest that Princess Diana resisted and prevailed (implying it was at least brought up), while other sources say that royal tradition was followed and Diana had no say in the matter. Either way, the far more important factor is that Prince William is one of the first royals to have a relatively normal childhood and university experience. He has friends of varying social and economic levels, virtually none of whom would have been circumcised at birth. He knows that his friends would consider him a nutter for having a perfectly healthy baby boy circumcised, and Kate knows the same thing. Looked at another way, at some point this absurd and damaging royal tradition/fad has to end — and it probably just has.
Petit Poulet
July 25, 2013 10:23 amBut the myth that Queen Victoria had her sons circumcised because she believed she was the direct descendent of the Old Testament King David was as priceless as it was indicative of royal excess and madness. Too bad it isn’t true because for many reasons it should be.
Lucy Stenbeck
July 25, 2013 4:00 amHere in Britain it’s really not the done thing these days, outside of certain religious circles – largely due to us having a National Health Service. There is no benefit for a doctor to push unsuspecting parents into agreeing to unnecessary surgery on their newborns. While the NHS could do with some improvement, it is an amazing privilege to have access to medical care for everyone, with no worry that unnecessary treatment will be promoted to make money.
Jerry Norton
July 27, 2013 10:32 pmThank the lucky stars. It could only be a big deal news item here in the circumcision culture States. People are positively frenetic about it sometimes. When your first thought for your newborn child is to amputate parts of their sensitive bits, this is a type of mental illness.
Marilyn Milos, RN
July 25, 2013 11:07 amIn 1987, which NOCIRC dubbed the “Year of the Intact Child,” we named the Prince and Princess of Wales “Parents of the Year” for their decision to leave Princes William and Harry intact, even though their father, Prince Charles, was circumcised. In honoring Charles and Diana, NOCIRC was really honoring all parents, especially circumcised fathers, who refuse to perpetuate unnecessary surgery just because it was done to an earlier generation, when people didn’t know better. The new prince, baby George, signifies the second generation of intact males in line for the English throne, as well as the second generation of intact males since NOCIRC was founded in 1985!
Gianluca
July 25, 2013 7:26 pmLet’s hope that he will stay intact like any other European boy who is neither Jewish nor Muslim.
Circumcision is genital mutilation. If we assume that male circumcision is the equivalent of type 1 female genital mutilation, then maybe we should call male circumcision “type 1 genital mutilation”. But maybe it’s worse than that (don’t know since I don’t own female genitals). I mean, genital mutilation is genital mutilation, period. There are a lot of people who want the distinction between male and female, but I think that it’s sexist to reserve it for females, only,
Keith
July 30, 2013 7:40 amBoth Prince William and Prince Harry’s military companions have asserted that both men are intact. And as there is no privacy in barracks, I believe that the late Princess was victorious in keeping her sons intact.
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