Queen Elizabeth II Attends Maundy Service, Gives Out Maundy Money For Holy Thursday [PHOTOS]

Queen Elizabeth II attended a service for Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday handing out Maundy Money to pensioners at the Leicester Cathedral. The oldest living monarch followed the ancient tradition, dating back to the 13th century marked on Holy Thursday, the on which Christians commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus.

The queen, who was accompanied by Prince Charles, handed over the Maundy money to 91 men and 91 women — one for each of the royal monarch's 91 years. The Maundy Service takes place each year on the Thursday before Easter Sunday when the queen distributes the money to pensioners in London. To hand over the money, the queen travels to various cathedrals or abbeys.

"These special coins have kept much the same form since 1670, and they still bear the portrait of Her Majesty designed for her coronation in 1953, even though the image on ordinary circulating coinage has since been changed four times," the Royal Family said, explaining Maundy Thursday.

"Each recipient of Maundy money is given two small leather purses by The Queen, one red and one white. The first contains a small amount of ordinary coinage which symbolises the Sovereign's gift for food and clothing. The second purse contains Maundy coins up to the value of the Sovereign's age. The coins are legal tender but recipients normally prefer to retain them as a keepsake."

The 182 recipients of the Maundy money were recognized for the service to the church and their local area.

"Henry IV began the practice of relating the number of recipients of gifts to the sovereign’s age, and as it became the custom of the sovereign to perform the ceremony, the event became known as the Royal Maundy," the Royal Mint’s website explained.

The queen has been attending several public ceremonies this year after her illness last year that forced her to skip the annual royal holiday celebrations, including Christmas and New Year services, due to health issues.

On Tuesday, the monarch visited Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable, about 30 miles northwest of London, and fed bananas to elephants.