Ceremony of the Christmas Cheeses 2024
Today, the Chelsea Pensioners enjoyed the annual Ceremony of the Christmas Cheeses, a much-loved festive tradition at the Royal Hospital steeped in over 300 years of history!
Dairy UK presented the Chelsea Pensioners with over 330kg of cheese donated by British cheesemakers. Plus, the Chelsea Pensioners also received a generous donation of Vintage Ale from Fuller’s Brewery to enjoy with their cheese.
Guests were welcomed into the ceremony with the delightful sound of the Band of the Welsh Guards before The Governor of the Royal Hospital’s Party entered. General Sir Adrian Bradshaw KCB OBE DL introduced the ceremony followed by a speech from Dairy UK’s Chairman, Paul Vernon, honouring all our nations service men and women.
Every year, a Chelsea Pensioner is selected for the Cutting of the Ceremonial Cheese. This year, Chelsea Pensioner Victor was chosen to cut the Ceremonial Cheese – a 24kg Montgomery Cheddar!
Chelsea Pensioner, Roy, also gave a special reading of a poem he wrote celebrating the history of this much-loved tradition at the Royal Hospital.
To close the ceremony, guests were treated to a wonderful performance by operatic singer Faith Tucker.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Dairy UK for their ongoing support of the Ceremony of the Christmas Cheeses and to all the British cheesemakers that donated and Fuller's Brewery.