Dressed in cheerful sky blue, the Queen observed the annual Maundy Thursday ceremony at Wakefield in West Yorkshire accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh. Thousands of enthusiastic well-wishers gathered to catch a glimpse of the monarch, who went on a 20-minute walkabout after the traditional church service.
During the ceremony, 158 pensioners 79 male and 79 female pensioners – their number reflecting the Queen's age on her next birthday – received a white leather purse containing 79p in silver coins. In another symbolic gesture, the senior citizens were given a red leather purse holding coins marking the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the 250th year of Samuel Johnson's dictionary of English.
"It was a great honour," said one 70-year-old recipient. "The Queen was absolutely lovely."
The morning did not go without a hitch, however. Police held two teenage youths on suspicion of threatening behaviour after the pair burst a number of balloons outside the cathedral as the monarch arrived. Eleven more were arrested under other charges.
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