The Royal Month: March


The Travelsleuth's eclectic and constantly updated monthly listing of Royal, social, cultural and sporting events in Royal Britain during Golden Jubilee Year.

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THE ROYAL MONTH. MARCH

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

The Queen returns from Her Golden Jubilee Royal Tour of Jamaica, New Zealand and Australia on 4 March and will be in residence at Buckingham Palace for the rest of the month. where she will undertake a number of engagements in London and investitures at the Palace.

11 March. Commonwealth Day
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will celebrate the foundation of the 54 nation Commonwealth by launching the Commonwealth Games Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace prior to attending a Commonwealth Day Observance service in Westminster Abbey that afternoon. In the evening The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will give a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark Her Majesty's 50 years as Head of the Commonwealth of Nations.

28 March. Maundy Thursday
Pageantry highlight of the month for Her Majesty will be Her annual distribution of the Royal Maundy, on this occasion at a Maundy Thursday service at Canterbury Cathedral. The royal practice of distributing alms and washing paupers' feet on the eve of Good Friday reaches back into antiquity and observance by early Christian Kings of the Mandatum or 'Commandment' given by Jesus to "Love one another". On this special day of Holy Week monarchs followed the example of Jesus who on the eve of his crucifixion washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. They also gave alms in the form of goods on this day.

The goods were replaced by redemption money by Queen Elizabeth I in Tudor times and by the reign of Charles II special coin was being minted for distribution at the annual feet washing ceremony. The foot washing was discontinued in 1730, but the distribution of Maundy alms continues with the Royal Mint producing special Maundy sets for the occasion. The actual ceremony linking crown and church goes back at least to the reign of Edward II, (1307-1327), and possibly to the reign of King John, (1199-1216). I shall return to the Royal Maundy and the Royal Almonry in an article for Easter.

The Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh will undertake a heavy schedule of engagements as Patron, President or Officer of a number of charitable, sporting and military organizations in England and Scotland during the month. These include a number of events relating to his Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme for young people.

The copyright of the article The Royal Month: March in Royal Britain is owned by Stuart Buchanan MacWatt. Permission to republish The Royal Month: March in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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