This is John Bachelor. My colleague Gregory Coppley, editor and publisher of Defense and Foreign Affairs,

gives me a lesson in Maundy Thursday, the tradition for the monarch, queen or king to distribute coins on the

Thursday before Easter to the indigent or the deserving of the realm.

Several hundred years old,

and the king was regretful that he could not attend his first Monday Thursday.

Gregory explains how the Queen was faithful all the decades of her reign for Mondy Thursdays.

The King will be there next year.

Right now a tradition I did not know of Maundy Thursday Distribution.

It's a lovely idea reminding us that once upon a time Mother England was a monarchy

and enforced that monarchy with tradition.

It is today, but it's hard to see, and I'm learning from Gregory what to look for.

Maundy Thursday, Easter Service, and looking forward to Trooping of the

color on June 15th.

Here's Gregory to explain Maundy Thursday.

Well, yes, on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Good Friday, there's been a tradition

since the 1600s where the monarch would distribute what they call mondi money.

This is from the mandate of Christ to look after those less fortunate.

And that for many many decades involved the sovereign himself kneeling

before some of the poorest people in the community and washing their feet in the manner of Christ and giving

money special money from the king and in fact what he gives away is called the king's maundy money and this is a set of

coins which are packaged in a little leather pouch historically but they have always had values of you know

a penny tuppence, thuppence, fourpence and the like. Now they've got designations of, I gather, five pounds and 50,

...