ROYAL MAUNDY SERVICE

Every year at Easter The Queen 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.

The selection is co-ordinated by the diocese (regional Church of England authority) hosting Royal Maundy that year.
 
The number of recipients is related to the Sovereign's age: in 2006, there were 80 male and 80 female recipients at Guildford Cathedral for the Maundy service attended by The Queen.

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 cathedral every year.

The Queen has distributed Maundy on all but four occasions since coming to the throne in 1952.

The services since The Queen's Accession have been in the following locations: