The Queen celebrates 85th birthday at Maundy Thursday service
The Easter ceremony will provide good practice for the choristers and clergy ahead of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in eight days time.
The Maundy Service is televised live on BBC1, providing broadcasters the chance to test out their cameras, lighting and technical equipment in a dry run ahead of the wedding.
The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will hand out Maundy money to 85 women and 85 men, one for each of her 85 years.
Buckingham Palace said it is the first time the Queen's birthday has fallen on Maundy Thursday.
Each Maundy money recipient - all retired pensioners invited in recognition of their service to the church and the community - will receive two purses - one red and one white - in the centuries- old tradition.
The red purse contains a £5 coin commemorating the Duke of Edinburgh's 90th birthday in June, and a 50p coin marking the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The white purse holds uniquely minted Maundy Money of silver one, two, three and four penny pieces, the sum of which equals the Queen's age.
Among the guests will be Dorothy Boyde, 75, from Kirk Michael, on the Isle of Man.
The pensioner, who has never left the island before, told the BBC: "I wouldn't go for anything else. It's a big adventure."
It is the first time in 10 years that the Maundy Service has been held at the Abbey in central London.
The ceremony traces its origins to the Last Supper when, as St John recorded, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.
The Queen was born Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary at 2.40am on April 21 1926 at 17 Bruton Street, the Mayfair home of her mother's parents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore.
She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York and the great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria.
The Queen is Head of State, the Armed Forces, the Commonwealth and the Church of England, and has been married to the Duke of Edinburgh for more than 63 years. They have four children and eight grandchildren.
The Queen became a great-grandmother for the first time last year after a daughter, Savannah, was born to Peter and Autumn Phillips in December 2010.
The Queen carried out 444 visits, opening ceremonies and other engagements in 2010.
Her official birthday is in June, which is celebrated with the Trooping the Colour parade.
Union flags will be flown above Government buildings from 8am until sunset in her honour today, while the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery will provide a 41-gun salute at noon in Hyde Park.
The Honourable Artillery Company will fire a 62-gun tribute from Gun Wharf at the Tower of London at 1pm.
Source:Telegraph
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