A 91-YEAR-OLD woman from York said she is delighted to have been invited to receive Maundy money from the Queen.

Hilda Coughlin, 91, had just returned to her home in South Bank after an a eight-week spell in hospital when a letter from Buckingham Palace dropped through the letterbox inviting her to meet the Queen at a Minster service in April, as part of the York 800 celebrations.

The grandmother-of-eight, who has volunteered at the Church of St Chad on Knavesmire for about 40 years, was nominated to attend the service and to receive the Maundy money by a mystery person.

The purse of specially-minted coins is given away each year to recognise those who have given long service to their community and church.

Mrs Coughlin said: “I think it’s marvellous. I have done a lot for the church and things like that and it’s something I never even thought about. I would like to say thank you to the person who has nominated me even if I never know who they are. I’m very, very thankful. I love the royal family. I have seen the Queen before at the races, but I have not met her.”

The invitation is especially touching for Mrs Coughlin and her family due to its timing – in October she had a fall and was admitted to Archways Intermediate Care Unit in Haxby Road where an x-ray found she had a broken bone above her ankle.

It was a blow to Mrs Coughlin, a former school cleaner, as she has been in good health all of her life.

After eight weeks of physio and exercise and support from “fantastic” staff at the unit, she was well on the road to recovery and she is now determine to walk without a frame by April.

Her daughter, Lynne, said: “She was so excited, she couldn’t believe it. She’s a real royalist – on Christmas Day she stops to watch the Queen’s speech. We keep saying to her – you were a school cleaner but you are meeting the Queen, it’s absolutely fantastic.”

Lynne and Mrs Coughlin’s other daughter, Carol, will accompany their mum to the service to see the Queen distribute the Royal Maundy money at the Minster on April 5.

Who receives Maundy money?

IN total 172 people have been invited to receive the Maundy money at the traditional service at York Minster in April.

Eighty-six men and 86 women, one for each year the Queen has been alive, have been nominated by the church, many from within the diocese of York, a spokesman for Buckingham Palace said. Further nominees are likely to be announced in The Press in the coming weeks.

Each year the Queen chooses a different church to distribute the specially minted coins, known as Maundy money, to deserving recipients.