Brother and sister in ‘biblical’ fight over mothers body
A brother and sister have begun a High Court fight over possession of their mother’s “decaying” dead body because they are at odds over whether her funeral should be Jewish or Anglican.
Mr Justice Arnold said that he would need to call upon the “judgment of Solomon” to decide the “biblical” dispute between siblings Susanna Levrant and David Freud.
Iris Freud, died on October 12, but her body remains at West Middlesex University Hospital because brother and sister have been unable to agree on how on where to bury her.
Mrs Levrant, 66, wants a Church of England funeral for her mother with “much loved hymns, and a rendition of If you were the only girl in the world, which her father used to sing to the deceased,” the High Court heard.
However, Mr Freud, also in his 60s, wants an “austere” funeral in line with Jewish mourning rites, and no music.
Iris Freud was born in 1923 and grew up in Tottenham, North London, in a large working-class family, and met her husband, Gideon Freud, a Czech Jew who fled to Paris then England during the Second World War. He died in 1974.
Cheryl Jones, for Mrs Levrant, said that her mother never converted to Judaism. However, Mr Freud is seeking to respect his father’s faith.
The case continues.
