london information / maundy thursday, the royal maundy and maundy money

What: Maundy Thursday - the Ceremony of the Royal Maundy. This ceremony, held at one of England's great cathedrals, involves the distribution of Maundy Money to deserving senior citizens (one man and one woman for each year of the sovereign's age), usually chosen for having done service to their community. They receive ceremonial red and white purses which contain coins made especially for the occasion. The white purse contains one coin for each year of the monarch's reign. The red purse contains money in place of other gifts that used to be given to the poor.

When: the Thursday before Easter

Where: Until the reign of the present Queen, all Maundy ceremonies took place in London. On her accession, the Queen decided that the service should take place at a different cathedral every year, chosen from throughout the country (in 2002 it was in Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, in 2003 in Gloucester Cathedral and in 2004 it was in Liverpool Cathedral). It does come back to London quite often though.