The launch of The Queen's Baton Relay
Published
A Baton carrying Her Majesty's message to the Commonwealth began its journey to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games with a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The Queen's message will be read aloud at the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games next year, but first, it will travel to 72 Commonwealth territories and nations, connecting communities over 90,000 miles.
The message was placed inside the specially designed Baton before being handed to the first Baton-bearer of the 294 day relay: Paralympian Kadeena Cox.
The Queen, who is both Head of the Commonwealth, and Patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation, was accompanied by The Earl of Wessex, who is Vice Patron.
At the closing ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, His Royal Highness said,
Every four years these Games bring the spirit of our Commonwealth alive... So I call sportsmen and women from all countries and territories of the Commonwealth to come together in four years’ time in Birmingham, England.
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