[MR] BBC: Lord Mayor's Show Returns to London

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Yesterday the BBC offered a story on the Lord Mayor's Show, which is really
a huge parade, but one that has been held in one form or another almost
every year since 1215.

King John (yeah, the "Bad" one of Magna Carta fame), granted the City of
London its first charter that year, allowing them to be governed by a Lord
Mayor of their choosing rather than a Crown-appointed sheriff. There have
been 693 Lord Mayors, and each has processed from the Guildhall to the
Royal Courts of Justice to swear allegiance to the Crown. The Lord Mayor
only governs the mile-square City of London (and that is pretty much a
ceremonial role today), rather than the modern Mayor of London who is
responsible for the Greater London Authority and administers the many
boroughs that make up the modern city.

O.K., so it is a modern parade today, with all sorts of civic hoopla and
lots of floats. But the ceremony is rich in those special traditional
touches that the Brits do so well. The Mayor waves to the crowds from his
horse-drawn gilded state coach escorted by armored pikemen. His entourage
includes the second-oldest military corps in the world, the Honourable
Artillery Company, all decked out in period uniforms and carrying their
matchlocks. Nobody does pomp better than the British.

The story, with views of the state coach and the escorts, is found at
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-59266840 .

More about the Lord Mayor is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Mayor_of_London .

The Honourable Artillery Company is discussed at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honourable_Artillery_Company .

A page on the Lord Mayor's State Coach is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Mayor_of_London%27s_State_Coach .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆