On Thursday, King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in Durham for the annual Royal Maundy service. Maundy Thursday is a much bigger deal in the UK, I think? I grew up around Evangelicals and I’m not sure non-Catholics in America pay much attention to Maundy Thursday, a recognition of The Last Supper. Anyway, when Queen Elizabeth was around, she loved a Royal Maundy service and she would get decked out in one of her brightest coats and biggest Mad Hatter hats and enjoy a church service.
Charles tries to keep his mother’s traditions up, but Camilla rocked up to Durham Cathedral looking like Elphaba. Are “Easter colors” not a thing in the UK? Do you guys not wear pastels and light florals around the Easter holiday? Camilla’s little black cape added to her Wicked Witch of Windsor vibe. That hunter green would have been much better at Christmas.
Charles missed the Maundy service last year because of his cancer, so Camilla did the Maundy service in his place and she was the one to pass out “Maundy money.” This year, Charles reclaimed the tradition of the monarch, handing out white and red purses full of Maundy coins. You can read more about the centuries-long tradition of Maundy money here.
Two more interesting sidenotes about this outing. One, there was a loud, disruptive “Not My King” protest outside the cathedral, and those Republic people had bullhorns. I haven’t seen much coverage of the protest, but the Independent did post a video of C&C’s arrival where you get a glimpse of the yellow signs and you can hear the “Not My King” chants very clearly. There was a smattering of boos as well. Two, Charles and Camilla were photographed getting on their royal helicopter and getting the f–k out of Durham as soon as the service was over. That rarely happens – the British media and photographers mostly adhere to a “gentleman’s agreement” to not take or publish photos of the Windsors using helicopters like taxis.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
