Royal Maundy () is a religious service in the Church of England held on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. At the service, the British monarch or a royal official ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money" (legally, "the King's Maundy money") as symbolic alms to elderly recipients. The coins are technically legal tender, but typically do not circulate due to their silver content and numismatic value. A small sum of ordinary money is also given in lieu of gifts of clothing and food that the sovereign once bestowed on Maundy recipients.
The name "Maundy" and the ceremony itself derive from an instruction, or , of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper that his followers should love one another. In the Middle Ages, English monarchs washed the feet of beggars in imitation of Jesus, and presented gifts and money to the poor. Over time, additional money was substituted for the clothing and other items that had once been distributed. Beginning in 1699 the monarch did not attend the service, sending an official in his place. The custom of royal representatives washing the feet of beggars did not survive the 18th century.
In 1931 Princess Marie Louise attended Royal Maundy, and afterwards suggested that her cousin, King George V, make the distributions the following year. He did so, beginning a new royal custom. Traditionally, the service was held in or near London, in most years in the early-to-mid-20th century at Westminster Abbey; the service is now held in a different church (usually a cathedral) every year. Queen Elizabeth II almost always attended, being absent only five times in her long reign. Recipients were once chosen for their poverty and were entitled to remain as Maundy recipients for life; today new recipients are chosen every year for service to their churches or communities, on the recommendation of clergy of various Christian denominations. Generally, recipients live in the diocese where the service is held, although this was altered for the 2011 and 2012 services. The 2020 and 2021 services were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with recipients sent their gifts by post. At the 2024 service, Queen Camilla attended in place of her husband, King Charles III, following his diagnosis with cancer.
Maundy money is struck in denominations of one penny, two pence, three pence, and four pence. Until the 18th century the coins given were from the circulating coinage, and it was not until the latter half of the century that the four Maundy coins developed as distinct, noncirculating pieces. The obverse design of the coins features the reigning monarch. The reverse, with a crowned numeral enclosed by a wreath, derives from a design first used during the reign of King William III and Queen Mary II, and which has been virtually unaltered since 1822. The coins are presented in two leather purses, a white one containing coins to the value of the same number of pence as the years of the monarch's age, and a red purse containing a £5 and a 50p coin. In most years there are fewer than 2,000 complete sets of Maundy money; they are highly sought after by collectors.
Origins, early and medieval history
The word Maundy derives from the command or by Christ at the Last Supper, to love one another. The Gospels relate that on the eve of his Crucifixion, Jesus Christ ate a meal with his disciples. After the meal, it is recorded that Jesus washed their feet, and gave them the following or command: "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done unto you." The Latin is the derivation of the word Maundy, and the Royal Maundy service evolved from Jesus' command to his disciples.
By the fourth or fifth century a ceremony had been developed following Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday, in which prominent church leaders washed the feet of the poor. The ceremony, known as the , was performed daily in some monasteries; in 992, Bishop Oswald of Worcester died during its performance.
The first English monarch to be recorded as distributing alms at a Maundy service was John, who on 15 April 1210 donated garments, forks, food, and other gifts to the poor of Knaresborough, Yorkshire. John is also the first English monarch to be recorded as giving gifts of small silver coins to the poor when in 1213 he gave 13 pence to each of 13 poor men at a ceremony in Rochester—the number being symbolic of the Twelve Apostles together with either Jesus or an angel. Few details of the 13th century Maundy survive; they are known to have existed from records which show the spending necessary for the gifts to the poor. The monarch was not alone in performing the rituals of the Maundy service; Henry III's children assisted him as part of their political and religious training. Henry's son, Edward I, was the first monarch to keep the Maundy only on or about Maundy Thursday; before Edward, additional Maundys might be kept during the year. According to Virginia Cole in her study of royal children's role in the 13th century Maundy, the service had a political purpose as well, as needing to humble himself by doing the proclaimed the monarch's greatness. Attendance at a Maundy service became an obligation for all major European ruling houses.
By 1363 the English monarch performed the and also gave gifts: that year, fifty-year-old Edward III gave fifty pence to each of fifty poor men. It is not known, however, whether it was as yet the practice each year to have the number of pence and the number of recipients track the monarch's age: Henry IV was the first monarch to decree that the number of pence given be determined by the monarch's age. The ceremony was not always performed on Maundy Thursday; it could be postponed a day to Good Friday by royal command, as it was in 1510. Nobles could hold their own Maundy distributions, as did Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland in the early 16th century, according to a contemporary record: "My Lord useth and accustomyth yerly uppon the said Maundy Thursday when his Lordshipe is at home to gyf yerly as manny Pursses of Lether ... with as manny Penys in every purse to as many poore men as his Lordshipe is Yeres of Aige and one for the Yere of my Lords Aige to come."
Although Mary I and Elizabeth I differed religiously, both performed elaborate Maundy ceremonies. Records from 1556 show that Mary washed the feet of forty-one poor women (reflecting her age) while "ever on her knees", and gave them forty-one pence each, as well as gifts of bread, fish, and clothing, donating her own gown to the woman said to be poorest of all. In 1572, disliking the scenes as each woman tried to secure a piece of the royal gown, Elizabeth granted a sum of £1 to each recipient in lieu of the gown, giving it in a red purse. Contemporary writer William Lambarde noted that the money was substituted for the gown "to avoid trouble of suite, which accustomabile was made for that perferment". In years in which plague was rife, the monarch did not attend, sending an official, usually the Lord High Almoner, to make the distributions and perform the . Even though scented water was used to disguise any unpleasant odours from the poor, the feet were washed three times before the monarch performed the , once by a menial and twice by court officials. In later years, sweet-smelling nosegays were used to disguise odours—the nosegays are still carried today.
Post-Restoration
Charles I rarely attended the Royal Maundy service. Author Brian Robinson, who traced the development of Royal Maundy, suggests that after the 1660 Stuart Restoration, his son Charles II attempted to gain popularity by assiduous attendance (and distribution of money) at the service. Charles II even attended during the plague years of 1661 and 1663. His brother and successor, James II, performed the ceremony as well. Although there is a record of William III doing so in 1698, most sources state that James was the last to wash the feet of the poor himself, in 1685. There is no record of any attendance by a monarch at the Royal Maundy ceremony after 1698 until 1932, but pre-1725 records are vague. The Lord High Almoner continued to perform the at the Maundy ceremony until 1737. Today, the only traces of the at Royal Maundy are the nosegays and the linen towels worn or carried by several of the officials.
The service was usually held somewhere near London. This was done to suit the monarch's convenience: in medieval times, it was held in Windsor, Eton, Richmond, Greenwich, or wherever the monarch happened to be at Eastertime. In 1714, with the monarch no longer present at the ceremony, the service was moved to the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, where it remained until 1890, when the Royal Chapel was given to the Royal United Services Institute. After 1890, by order of Queen Victoria, it was moved to Westminster Abbey, though in years when there was a coronation and the abbey was closed for preparations, the service was held at St Paul's Cathedral. From 1954 to 1970, it was held in even-numbered years at Westminster, and in odd-numbered years at provincial cathedrals; since then it has, in most years, been held outside London. When the service was confined to London, recipients were customarily householders who had met their financial obligations to society, but had since fallen on hard times.
The number of recipients continued to track the monarch's age. Until the joint reign of William III and Mary II, the recipients were of the same sex as the monarch. During that reign, each of the monarchs made gifts to poor people of their sex, but after Mary's death, only men received gifts from William. Beginning with the reign of George I (1714–1727), both men and women have received gifts, each sex in a number corresponding to the monarch's age, each recipient receiving that number of pence. Despite the monarch's absence, the ceremony was held each year, with the Lord High Almoner or the Sub-Almoner deputising for the sovereign.
The gift of clothing was eliminated for women beginning in 1724, as the recipients immediately tried on the gifts and exchanged ill-fitting ones with each other, a practice thought unseemly in a church. The women were instead given 35 shillings (decimalised as £1.75). For men, the clothing gift was replaced by woollen cloth that year. Men continued to be given cloth until 1883, when royal officials realised that many of the recipients were too poor to have the cloth made into garments and were instead selling it. Men were given 45 shillings (decimalised as £2.25) in lieu of the cloth, an amount increased in 1973 to £3 for both men and women.