Queen Elizabeth II has used her Christmas Day message to reassure anyone struggling without friends and family this year that they "are not alone".
She said what many people want "for Christmas is a simple hug or a squeeze of the hand" - but "even on the darkest nights there is hope in the new dawn".
The 94-year-old praised acts of kindness, saying the pandemic "brought us closer" despite causing hardship.
She lamented that "people of all faiths have been unable to gather as they would wish for their festivals", but said "we need life to go on".
[Source : BBC]
