Right Royal way to mark city’s 800 year landmark

The Monarch’s visit to York on Maundy Thursday in April will see the culmination of six months of painstaking planning which will also showcase the city’s 800th anniversary since being granted a Royal Charter.

Senior officials at York Council disclosed yesterday that a request was sent to Buckingham Palace a year ago to try and secure a high profile Royal visit to mark this historic occasion.

And details are now being fine-tuned to provide a showpiece event which will give the Queen a chance to sample some of the city’s own celebrations 800 years after being given the charter by King John in 1212.

It was announced in January that the Queen will be in York Minster on April 5 to perform the annual traditional of handing out Maundy money.

But the Yorkshire Post can reveal that she will also be the guest of honour at a civic luncheon at the Lord Mayor’s official residence, the Mansion House, with a menu created from Yorkshire’s finest produce.

The current Lord Mayor of York, Councillor David Horton, will present the Queen with a traditional gift of chocolates to celebrate the city’s long association with the confectionary industry.

The Queen will also be given a tour of an exhibition in the Yorkshire Museum in the Museum Gardens to mark the city’s 800 years.

At the start of her visit, she will be greeted by a civic party led by the council’s chief executive Kersten England, who is the first ever woman to hold the title, at the city’s traditional entrance of Micklegate Bar.

The historic gateway has been used for Royal visits since 1212 and will involve a centuries-old tradition during which the Queen will officially ask for permission to enter York.

Ms England said: “It will be an incredible honour to welcome the Queen on Maundy Thursday, especially as the first woman in York’s 800 years of local democracy to hold the office of chief executive and role as town clerk.

“We have many special traditions in York, but the Queen asking for permission to enter the city via Micklegate and for me to be able to make the official proclamation welcome on the day is what makes York so unique.”

During a year which will mark the Queen’s 60-year reign coupled with the arrival of the Olympics in London, the Maundy Thursday visit to York has an added resonance. It will see the Queen pay tribute to the city, which provides an enduring link between the monarchy and the Church. The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, is the second most senior cleric in the Church of England after the Archbishop of Canterbury, and will be at the Maundy Thursday service in the Minster as well as the civic luncheon.

The meal at the Mansion House is, however, not solely reserved for the city’s highest profile figures. The 14 winners of the York community pride awards have all been invited, along with staff from the council’s five directorates. Representatives from across the ranks of the Army will also attend.

The council’s head of arts, heritage and culture, Gill Cooper, has been working with the authority’s civic services co-ordinator, Anne Platt, to organise the visit. They have been liaising with Buckingham Palace, York Minster and North Yorkshire Police as well as the Army, the York Archaeological Trust and the York Museums Trust, which runs the Yorkshire Museum.

Ms Cooper said: “It is a huge honour that the Queen has chosen to be in York for Maundy Thursday during what is her Diamond Jubilee year. It shows just how important the city is and it will be a great opportunity to celebrate York’s 800th anniversary.”