King hails love as important virtue across religions in Easter message

The King has hailed love as an important virtue across religions and one that the world “still needs” in a personal Easter message.

It comes as he and the Queen are due to attend a Royal Maundy service in Durham Cathedral on Thursday.

The ceremony is a major fixture on the royal calendar and normally the monarch, who is the head of the Church of England, presents specially minted coins to people recognised for their community service.

The service commemorates Jesus’s Last Supper when he washed the feet of his disciples as an act of humility the day before Good Friday.

Charles, who announced his cancer diagnosis the previous February, did not attend the service in Worcester Cathedral last year.

In his 2025 Easter message, the King said Jesus’s actions were a “token of His love that knew no bounds or boundaries and is central to Christian belief”.

“The love He showed when He walked the Earth reflected the Jewish ethic of caring for the stranger and those in need, a deep human instinct echoed in Islam and other religious traditions, and in the hearts of all who seek the good of others,” he went on.

“The abiding message of Easter is that God so loved the world, the whole world, that He sent His son to live among us to show us how to love one another, and to lay down His own life for others in a love that proved stronger than death.

“There are three virtues that the world still needs, faith, hope and love. ‘And the greatest of these is love’.”

Charles also said humanity is “capable of both great cruelty and great kindness”.

“This paradox of human life runs through the Easter story and in the scenes that daily come before our eyes, at one moment, terrible images of human suffering and, in another, heroic acts in war-torn countries where humanitarians of every kind risk their own lives to protect the lives of others,” he continued.

“A few weeks ago, I met many such people at a reception in Buckingham Palace and felt a profound sense of admiration for their resilience, courage and compassion.”

In February, the King and Queen were joined by the Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester at a reception to celebrate exceptional individuals and organisations which contribute towards humanitarian efforts across the globe.

There, among others, he met 95-year-old Nellie Hill, of Newcastle, Co Down, who set up a charity shop in 1992 in response to an emergency appeal by Concern Worldwide for the humanitarian crisis in Somalia and has since raised £1.83 million for the charity.

On Thursday, Charles will present 76 women and 76 men, signifying his age, with two purses, one red and one white, filled with Maundy money.

This year, the red purse will contain a £5 coin commemorating the Queen Mother and a 50p coin featuring stories of the Second World War.

The King and Queen will also see a special exhibition of Durham Cathedral’s Magna Cartas, which are on display for the first time in eight years.

Published: 17/04/2025 by Radio NewsHub