Queen pays her Maundy dues to elderly




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Queen pays her Maundy dues to elderly

By Alan Hamilton

London Times, April 18, 2003

Standing on ceremony: the Queen leaving Gloucester Cathedral yesterday where she distributed silver Maundy coins to 154 pensioners. The oldest to receive the 77p coin was 99. Photo by Andre Camara and Richard Cannon

In an annual ceremony that has its origins in Christ’s washing of the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, the Queen distributed purses of money yesterday to 154 pensioners in Gloucester Cathedral.

The Royal Maundy service is intended as a show of humility by the monarch towards her subjects, but the last sovereign to wield the soap and towels was James II in 1685.

Now the Maundy is a token distribution of alms to the poor, although the Queen and her clergy still carry nosegays — bunches of strongly scented herbs to ward off the odour of medieval feet — and officiating priests still wear towels around their waists.

Dressed in a lilac wool and crepe coat, matching silk print dress and lilac hat, the Queen distributed the Maundy money to 77 men and 77 women, each receiving 77 pence in specially minted Maundy coins, the only silver currency still made in Britain.

The number of recipients, and the amount, is determined by the Queen’s age; she celebrates her 77th birthday on Monday.

Although a version of the ceremony has been known in England since the 7th Century, the monarch has attended regularly since 1932, when George V revived the custom. In 1971 the Queen began the practice of moving the service around different Anglican cathedrals, returning only rarely to its traditional home at Westminster Abbey.

Recipients are nominated by Christian clergy of all denominations in the host diocese, and are chosen for their church and community work. Yesterday’s oldest recipient was Dorothy Judd, 99, from Gloucester, and the average age was 80.

Mary Seabright, 79, from Bishops Cleeve, near Cheltenham, another recipient, said: “I go to the Methodist chapel and have always been involved with the church and the Girl Guides.

“The Queen was very genuine. You see her on television so often that you feel familiar with her.”

A much younger generation may also have found something familiar about yesterday’s service. Gloucester Cathedral’s Norman interior has been used as the location for a number of scenes in the Harry Potter films.