King Charles III and Queen Camilla attended the Royal Maundy Service at St Asaph Cathedral in St Asaph, Wales. Photo / Getty Images
King Charles III and Queen Camilla attended the Royal Maundy Service at St Asaph Cathedral in St Asaph, Wales. Photo / Getty Images
King Charles and Queen Camilla have joined the congregation at St Asaph Cathedral for the first Royal Maundy Service to be held in North Wales.
It is only the second time in its 800‐year history that the service has taken place in any part of Wales, with the flowers andthe music having a Welsh theme.
The service, in Denbighshire, also marked the King’s first meeting with the Most Reverend Cherry Vann, the Archbishop of Wales.
As per tradition, the King will distribute Maundy money to 77 men and 77 women – one for every year of his age – in recognition of their Christian service and contributions to their communities.
Before the King and Queen arrived, graffiti saying “Not our King”, sprayed in red paint on a wall in the cathedral grounds, had to be covered up after workmen had tried in vain to remove it.
It is the first time the Royal Maundy Service has been held in Wales since 1982 and only the second time in its history. Photo / Getty Images
The monarch will not release an Easter message this year, which he does only on occasion.
Last year, he praised the ethics of Judaism and the “human instinct” of Islam in a message released on Maundy Thursday, as he wished the public a “blessed and peaceful Easter”, and said the greatest virtue the world needs is love.
The first recorded Royal Maundy service was held in 1210 by King John. The service commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ, with the distribution of alms becoming a tradition.
Elizabeth II introduced the tradition of taking the Maundy Service around the country, rather than limiting the distribution of Maundy money to London. She visited every cathedral in the UK to present Maundy money to local people.
The King’s first Maundy Service as monarch took place at York Minster in 2023.
Each recipient receives two small leather purses – one red and one white.
The red purse contains a £5 coin featuring a design to commemorate 100 years since the birth of Elizabeth II, and a 50p coin that celebrates the 50th anniversary of The King’s Trust. The white purse contains coins to match the monarch’s age in pennies.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla departing after the Royal Maundy Service at St Asaph Cathedral. Photo / Getty Images
Jean Carthy, 81, from Towyn, said she thought it was a scam when she received a letter telling her she had been nominated to receive the gift.
“Even this morning I was wondering why I was there. It was just so, so special and especially because it was the first time it has been in North Wales,” she said.
“He gave me the purses and said ‘thank you for the work you do’ and that was really something.”
Colin Pengelly, 77, from Castle Caereinion, near Welshpool, said: “It has been an amazing, humbling experience.
“The King put the purses in my hand and said ‘thank you for all you have done over the years’. I said to him ‘thank you too, keep doing it’.”
Supporters with Union flags and Welsh flags lined the street outside the cathedral to greet the King and Queen.
Further up the road, behind barriers separating them from the rest of the crowd, were a group of protesters with yellow flags from Republic, an anti-monarchy campaign group.
They held a banner which had photos of the King, his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the Prince of Wales, with the slogan: “What are you hiding? Royal Epstein inquiry now.”
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