“Coronavirus will not overcome us,” the Queen has said, in an Easter message to the nation.
While celebrations would be different for many this year, she said: “We need Easter as much as ever.”
Referencing the tradition of lighting candles to mark the occasion, she said: “As dark as death can be – particularly for those suffering with grief – light and life are greater.”
It comes as the number of coronavirus deaths in UK hospitals reached 9,875.
Speaking from Windsor Castle, the Queen said many religions had festivals celebrating light overcoming darkness, which often featured the lighting of candles.
She said: “They seem to speak to every culture, and appeal to people of all faiths, and of none.
“They are lit on birthday cakes and to mark family anniversaries, when we gather happily around a source of light. It unites us.”
The monarch, who is head of the Church of England, said: “As darkness falls on the Saturday before Easter Day, many Christians would normally light candles together.
“In church, one light would pass to another, spreading slowly and then more rapidly as more candles are lit. It’s a way of showing how the good news of Christ’s resurrection has been passed on from the first Easter by every generation until now.”
