When the Queen comes to the City in State, she is met at the border between the City and Westminster, where Temple Bar used to be, by the Lord Mayor of London. He offers her the sword to touch. Before 1641, the king or queen would take the sword and keep it while they were in the City. In 1641 Charles I gave it back to the Lord Mayor instead, and that's what they still do now. This ceremony as started in 1215 when the mayor (now the Lord Mayor) started to be elected. They do something like this in other places, including York.