City of London,
07
November
2014
|
12:01
Europe/London

Magna Carta takes centre stage at Lord Mayor’s Show

City of London starts global 800th anniversary celebrations

Summary

What: Lord Mayor’s Show

Where: City of London (Bank/St Paul’s)

When: Saturday 8 November

The City of London Corporation’s copy of Magna Carta will feature in this year’s Lord Mayor’s Show, kick-starting global celebrations of the ancient charter’s 800th anniversary.

Currently on display at the City of London Heritage Gallery at Guildhall, Magna Carta is widely regarded as a cornerstone of English law and human rights. For the first time, the charter required a monarch – King John - to accept that his will was not arbitrary and that people could only be ruled through the law of the land.

The City’s copy of Magna Carta dates from 1297 when Edward I, mainly to raise more funds for wars in Scotland and on the European Continent, agreed to its confirmation in Parliament. This was a critical development in its history as it gave Magna Carta statutory force and led to its later importance in this country’s constitutional history and its influence across the world.

It will travel in the Edward VII Town Coach in front of Alderman Alan Yarrow, the next Lord Mayor of the City of London, and past hundreds of thousands of spectators on the streets of London.

Dominic Reid, the Pageantmaster of the Lord Mayor’s Show, said: “I have been Pageantmaster for 23 years and there has never been a more special Show than this. Having the City’s own copy of Magna Carta as the centrepiece is a fantastic opportunity for us to open the global celebrations of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta and its central importance to the rule of law and the establishment of human rights.”

This year’s Show officially confirms Alderman Alan Yarrow as the 687th Lord Mayor of the City of London. Alderman Yarrow, currently chairman of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, has spent most of his career at private bank Kleinwort Benson and has previously chaired the London Investment Banking Association. He will act as the global ambassador for the City of London during his one-year term as Lord Mayor.

Alderman Yarrow has selected Scope and Mencap, which tackle issues for people with physical and learning disabilities respectively as the beneficiaries of his fundraising activities over the next year. He will also raise money for the Royal Ballet School, the City & Guilds of London Art School and the Royal Academy of Arts.

The modern procession is over three miles long and fills the whole space between Bank and Aldwych from 11am until about 2.30pm, cheered by a crowd of some half a million people and watched live on the BBC by millions more.

This year’s procession is 7,000 strong including 180 horses, 140 vehicles, a vintage steamroller, a Spitfire, a Viking ship, Masai dancers, Taiko drummers, Shaolin kung-fu dancers, a grand piano pulled by bicycles, Napoleon and a tank.

-Ends-

Notes to editors

Press enquiries

John Park, Media Officer, City of London Corporation

T 020 7332 3639 / M 07824 343 456

E john.park@cityoflondon.gov.uk

About the City of London Corporation

The City of London Corporation has three roles: we support London’s communities by working in partnership with neighbouring boroughs on economic regeneration and skills projects. The City of London Corporation’s charity, the City Bridge Trust, makes grants of more than £15 million annually to charitable projects across London and we also support education - with three independent schools and three City Academies – plus a primary school and the world-renowned Guildhall School of Music and Drama. We also help look after key London heritage and green spaces including Tower Bridge, Museum of London, Barbican Arts Centre, City gardens, Hampstead Heath, Epping Forest, Burnham Beeches, and important ‘commons’ in south London. And – with its heart in London’s Square Mile - we also support and promote the ‘City’ as a world-leading financial and business hub, with outward and inward business delegations, high-profile civic events, research-driven policies and a long-term approach. See www.cityoflondon.gov.uk for much more on our uniquely diverse role, including the City of London Police, etc.