Queen sends Maundy money in the post
Lockdown leads to break with Easter tradition and denies the world’s oldest bell ringer a Royal meeting
The Queen has sent Maundy money to pensioners by post for the first time, telling them she was “deeply disappointed” not to be able to meet them in person. Isolating at Windsor Castle, she wrote to this year’s recipients, saying the tradition, a call to the service of others, is “something that has been at the centre of my life”, adding that the “highly significant ceremony” in the Christian calendar was “one of my most rewarding duties as sovereign”.
THE QUEEN has distributed Maundy money by post for the first time in her reign, as she told Christian pensioners she was “deeply disappointed” not to be able to meet them in person.
The Queen, who is isolating at Windsor Castle, has written to this year’s recipients of the symbolic coins to send her thanks and prayers, saying the Covid19 crisis does not mean their “invaluable contribution within the community goes unnoticed”.
Saying the tradition, a call to the service of others, is “something that has been at the centre of my life”, she told them the “highly significant ceremony” in the Christian calendar was “one of my most rewarding duties as Sovereign”. The ceremony, planned to be at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, has been cancelled in line with government advice to avoid large gatherings.
This year’s recipients were instead surprised to have the coins posted through their letterbox in a parcel from the Queen.
Among the 188 people honoured was 101yearold Thomas Brock from Sunburyonthames, the oldest active bell ringer in the world.
Having rung the bells at his local church, St Mary’s, since the age of seven, he has only ever missed a service during the Second World War, when he was a prisoner of war. It is the first time the Queen has upheld the tradition by post. She has missed it in person on only a handful of occasions before, twice while overseas and twice shortly after giving birth, and has previously attended a service at every cathedral in the UK.
Every year, the tradition sees her distribute newly minted coins to pensioners, “nominated by their local dioceses for their outstanding contributions to their local church and community life”, Buckingham Palace explained.
This year, as all those over 70 are advised to stay at home to protect against coronavirus, she has sent the purses, money and good wishes by post to 188 members of the public: 94 men and 94 women, to match her age this year.
In a letter, she said: “I have great pleasure in sending you the Maundy Gift which, unfortunately, I am unable to distribute to you personally at the Royal Maundy Service in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on Thursday, 9 April.
“This ancient Christian ceremony, which reflects Jesus’s instruction to his Disciples to love one another, is a call to the service of others, something that has been at the centre of my life. I believe it is a call to service for all of us. It is one of my most rewarding duties as Sovereign to observe this highly significant ceremony at such an important point in the Christian calendar.
“I know that you, as a Recipient of this year’s Maundy Gift, will be as deeply disappointed as I am that it is not going ahead, while understanding the necessary decision in the current circumstances. However, this should not mean your invaluable contribution within the community goes unnoticed, and I am sending this Maundy Gift to thank you for your Christian service.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your families at this difficult time. With my best wishes to you this Easter.”
The coins – 94 pennies, which come in redandwhite bags – were blessed at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace in a service held several weeks ago. They also include a £5 coin dedicated to William Wordsworth and a 50p piece decorated to honour Team GB.
Bill Allen, 100, received his, fittingly, by motorcycle. As a young man, he worked as a motorcycle courier delivering military secrets and orders for General Montgomery during the Second World War. He met the Prince of Wales at the Dday 75th Anniversary last year and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at a Westminster Abbey Commonwealth Day event, saying: “I had a huge hug and a kiss from a princess. Not many people can say that.”
Mr Allen, a widower from Chelmsford who has worked as a bricklayer and market inspector, was recognised for his dedication to the Leyton branch of the Royal British Legion, where he has volunteered for more than 30 years and speaks to schoolchildren about veterans. “I was really looking forward to meeting my Queen and having a cup of tea with her,” he said. “That would have been the icing on the cake. I was very disappointed.
“Hopefully I can live long enough to meet her one day. It would mean the world for me and couldn’t be a greater honour. I didn’t know the money would come through the post. It was such a surprise. It came by special delivery by motorcycle. I’m going to donate the coins to St John’s Church, Leytonstone, when I die.”
Another recipient, retired teacher Jane Armstrong, 76, has volunteered for more than 50 years, running youth clubs, crisis support groups and food banks at Woodhouse Close Church in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. She is disappointed not to be attending the service, which would have been the third time she has met the Queen, but added: “You have to be sensible and realistic, it was obvious we couldn’t go ahead with it in the current situation.
“It’s wonderful the Queen put them in the post. It was a huge surprise to get a package through the letter box.”