The King responded to a well-wisher who told him he looked in good health with a dry joke at a major royal event today. Today, he and Queen Camilla attended the traditional Maundy Thursday Easter service at Durham Cathedral, a key date in the royal calendar.
The monarch, who is the head of the Church of England, presents specially minted coins to people recognised for their community service and it was a return to the service for Charles, who missed the event last year due to his cancer diagnosis. During the traditional service, he gave Maundy money to 76 men and 76 women – one for every year of his age – in thanks for their Christian service to their communities.
And afterwards, the royal couple greeted wellwishers in the spring sunshined who had gathered outside the Cathedral to cheer them. Among them was Pat Johnson, 54, from Jarrow, South Tyneside, who was holding her three-stone 18-month-old Pembrokeshire Corgi named Lilibet, who caught the King’s eye.
Speaking afterwards, Mrs Johnson said: “He asked me if she was friendly and he asked me her name.I said she was named after the late Queen. I said he looked very well and he said ‘You are very kind, it’s all smoke and mirrors’.”The Maundy service was held in Durham for the first time since 1967. The 152 recipients were selected from dioceses in northern England and Scotland.
One of them was Sister Josepha Matthews, from the Sisters of Mercy in Sunderland, who said the ceremony was very emotional and meaningful. The 71-year-old said afterwards: “It was the most special moment. He made you feel like you were the only person in the whole of the cathedral.He put the gifts in my hand and held my hand.
“I said ‘It’s lovely to meet you’ and he said ‘No, we are delighted to come here and thank you for all the wonderful things that you have done, what would we do without you? You never stop’.”
Sister Josepha, who is the youngest member of her order in Sunderland and works with youth groups and Christian camps, said she received the honour on behalf of the community of 16 sisters.
Graham Young, from Winston in Teesdale, County Durham, was nominated to be a recipient for his work with developing Fairtrade, as well as volunteering locally. He said: “It was quite extraordinary, the atmosphere was amazing. There was all the pomp and circumstance and then it all really hits you.” The service, which used to feature the monarch washing the feet of the poor as Jesus did, dates back to 1210.
The King’s attendance at the service at Durham Cathedral today comes as he wrote about humanity’s “great cruelty and great kindness” in an emotional message to mark Maundy Thursday. In his 2025 Easter message, the King said Jesus’ actions were a “token of His love that knew no bounds or boundaries and is central to Christian belief”.
“The love He showed when He walked the Earth reflected the Jewish ethic of caring for the stranger and those in need, a deep human instinct echoed in Islam and other religious traditions, and in the hearts of all who seek the good of others,” he went on.
“The abiding message of Easter is that God so loved the world, the whole world, that He sent His son to live among us to show us how to love one another, and to lay down His own life for others in a love that proved stronger than death.
“There are three virtues that the world still needs, faith, hope and love. ‘And the greatest of these is love’.” Charles also said humanity is “capable of both great cruelty and great kindness”.
“This paradox of human life runs through the Easter story and in the scenes that daily come before our eyes, at one moment, terrible images of human suffering and, in another, heroic acts in war-torn countries where humanitarians of every kind risk their own lives to protect the lives of others,” he continued.
“A few weeks ago, I met many such people at a reception in Buckingham Palace and felt a profound sense of admiration for their resilience, courage and compassion.”
The Royal Family’s Easter celebrations will continue on Sunday when the King and Queen will lead other members of the family at the traditional Easter Sunday service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
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