On 28 March 2013 The Queen distributed 'Maundy money' at a service in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.
Every year at Easter Her Majesty presents special 'Maundy money' to local pensioners in a UK cathedral or abbey.
The presentation takes place on Maundy Thursday in recognition of the service of elderly people to their community and their church.
Watch footage from the 2011 service at Westminster Abbey:
The selection is co-ordinated by the diocese (regional Church of England authority) hosting Royal Maundy that year.
Since the fifteenth century, the number of Maundy coins handed out, and the number of people receiving the coins, has been related to the Sovereign’s age; in 2012, there were 86 male and 86 female recipients at York Minster for the Royal Maundy service attended by Her Majesty.
Watch footage of Queen Alexandra (consort of Edward VII) attending a Royal Maundy Service at Westminster Abbey:
In 2012 two purses of 'Maundy money' were given to 86 men and 86 women – a white purse containing 86p in Maundy coins and a red purse containing £5 coin and 50p piece.
Maundy coins have remained in much the same form since 1670. They have traditionally been struck in sterling silver, except for the brief interruptions of Henry's Vlll's debasement of the coinage and the general change to 50% silver coins in 1920. The sterling silver standard was resumed following the Coinage Act of 1946.
In 1971, when decimalisation took place, the face values of the coins were increased from old to new pence.
The effigy of The Queen on ordinary circulating coinage has undergone three changes, but Maundy coins still bear the same portrait of Her Majesty prepared by Mary Gillick for the first coins issued in the year of her coronation in 1953.
The Royal Maundy Service used to take place in London, but early in her reign The Queen decided that the service should take place at a different venue every year.
In 2012 the service took place at York Minster on 5 April.
In 2011 the service took place in Westminster Abbey on 21 April.
In 2010 the service took place at Derby Cathedral, Derby on 1 April.
Her Majesty has distributed Maundy on all but four occasions since coming to the throne in 1952.
The Maundy services since The Queen's Accession have been in the following locations:
| 1952 | Westminster Abbey |
| 1953 | St Paul's Cathedral |
| 1954 | Westminster Abbey (The Lord High Almoner officiated, as The Queen was on a Commonwealth tour) |
| 1955 | Southwark Cathedral |
| 1956 | Westminster Abbey |
| 1957 | St Albans Abbey |
| 1958 | Westminster Abbey |
| 1959 | St George's Chapel, Windsor |
| 1960 | Westminster Abbey (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother officiated, as Prince Andrew was born in February) |
| 1961 | Rochester Cathedral |
| 1962 | Westminster Abbey |
| 1963 | Chelmsford Cathedral |
| 1964 | Westminster Abbey (Princess Mary, The Princess Royal officiated, as Prince Edward was born in March) |
| 1965 | Canterbury Cathedral |
| 1966 | Westminster Abbey |
| 1967 | Durham Cathedral |
| 1968 | Westminster Abbey |
| 1969 | Selby Abbey |
| 1970 | Westminster Abbey (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother officiated as The Queen was in New Zealand) |
| 1971 | Tewkesbury Abbey |
| 1972 | York Minster |
| 1973 | Westminster Abbey |
| 1974 | Salisbury Cathedral |
| 1975 | Peterborough Cathedral |
| 1976 | Hereford Cathedral |
| 1977 | Westminster Abbey |
| 1978 | Carlisle Cathedral |
| 1979 | Winchester Cathedral |
| 1980 | Worcester Cathedral |
| 1981 | Westminster Abbey |
| 1982 | St David's Cathedral, Dyfed |
| 1983 | Exeter Cathedral |
| 1984 | Southwell Minster |
| 1985 | Ripon Cathedral |
| 1986 | Chichester Cathedral |
| 1987 | Ely Cathedral |
| 1988 | Lichfield Cathedral |
| 1989 | Birmingham Cathedral |
| 1990 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne Cathedral |
| 1991 | Westminster Abbey |
| 1992 | Chester Cathedral |
| 1993 | Wells Cathedral |
| 1994 | Truro Cathedral |
| 1995 | Coventry Cathedral |
| 1996 | Norwich Cathedral |
| 1997 | Bradford Cathedral |
| 1998 | Portsmouth Cathedral |
| 1999 | Bristol Cathedral |
| 2000 | Lincoln Cathedral |
| 2001 | Westminster Abbey |
| 2002 | Canterbury Cathedral |
| 2003 | Gloucester Cathedral |
| 2004 | Liverpool Cathedral |
| 2005 | Wakefield Cathedral |
| 2006 | Guildford Cathedral |
| 2007 | Manchester Cathedral |
| 2008 | St. Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh |
| 2009 | St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds |
| 2010 | Derby Cathedral |
| 2011 | Westminster Abbey |
| 2012 | York Minster |
Maundy Thursday commemorates the day of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. The word 'Maundy' comes from the command or 'mandatum' by Christ at the Last Supper, to love one another.
The tradition of the Sovereign giving money to the poor dates from the thirteenth century. The Sovereign also used to give food and clothing, and even washed the recipients' feet. The last monarch to do so was James II.
