This year we are delighted to host the Royal Maundy Service, which takes place each year on the Thursday before Easter Day. It is a special service in which The King expresses his gratitude for those who serve and volunteer in their communities by giving them Maundy Money.
By ancient tradition, four children accompany the monarch as he walks around the cathedral distributing the Maundy Money, each carrying a posy of flowers.
This year Euan Black and Indrakshi Chatterjee from Durham Cathedral Schools Foundation and Sam Parkinson and Eve Brown from Durham Johnston School have been invited to play these historic roles in the service and their parents have been invited to the service to witness this proud moment.
During the service, 152 recipients, 76 men and 76 women (signifying the age of the Monarch), will be presented by The King, with specially-minted Maundy money to thank them for their outstanding Christian service and for making a difference to the lives of people in their local communities.
The main duty for the Almonry children is to process behind His Majesty King Charles III during the distribution of the Maundy Money. The children will also wear their school uniform to represent their school community.
The service is rooted in the tradition of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet in the Upper Room the night before his death and goes back to medieval times.
Previously, the monarch would have washed the feet of the people at the service, as an re-enactment of Jesus washing his disciple’ feet. The children would have carried flowers, or nosegays as they are known, to cover any unpleasant odours from the feet the monarch was washing. Today each child will carry a posy of flower with this aspect of the service linking directly back to medieval times.
All four children will be part of the official Royal photograph for the occasion which will be taken at the North Door of the cathedral after the service.
The flowers the Children of the Royal Almonry will carry have been made by the Cathedral Flower Arranging Volunteers and Floral Designer and Flower Farmer Deborah Simpson Boston, the same team who are creating the wider floral displays decorating the church.
