Royal Maundy pence to each of fifty poor men. It is not known, however, whether it was as yet the practice each year to have the number of pence and the number of recipients track the monarch's age: Henry IV was the first monarch to decree that the number of pence given be determined by the monarch's age. The ceremony was not always performed on Maundy Thursday; it could be postponed a day to Good Friday by royal command, as it was in 1510. Nobles could hold their own Maundy distributions, as did Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland in the early
Royal Maundy from being overwhelmed by the smell of fish. The Order of Service for Royal Maundy is a simple one. It begins with the reading of John 13:34, which contains the "mandatum" from which Royal Maundy evolved. It contains two lessons, the first of which (John 13) also recalls the "mandatum". The second reading contains that portion of Matthew 25 which describes the Last Judgment. The Queen makes half of the presentations after the first lesson, and half after the second. Anthems, led by the Chapel Royal choir and the local choir, are sung while the distribution is going on, concluding