THE Queen has set in motion a global relay of the Commonwealth Games baton in her first major event at Buckingham Palace since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The baton’s 90 000-mile, 269-day journey travels through 72 Commonwealth nations and territories ahead of the Games in 2022.
The competition, hosted by Birmingham, coincides with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.
The baton will be handed back to the Queen at the city’s opening ceremony.

After the events in London, it emerged the Birmingham Games had received almost 2 million applications for tickets.
Organisers say they are well on the way to having capacity crowds at all venues.

The Queen began the relay yesterday by passing the baton to Paralympic gold medallist Kadeena Cox who carried it on the first leg of its journey.
The baton received by four-time Paralympic chamption Cox is meant to represent the spirit of the “friendly games”, and contains a message from the Queen to athletes and the Commonwealth.

It is due to arrive in Cyprus in a few days.
Among guests at Buckingham Palace were Baroness Scotland, secretary-general of the Commonwealth; Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer; and sports minister Nigel Huddleston.

They were joined by representatives from the Commonwealth Games Federation, of which the Queen is patron, along with grassroots sports organisations from the West Midlands and athletes who are set to compete next summer.

The Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, joined the Queen in his role as vice-patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation.
The baton was carried around the palace by athletes from the home nations. It arrived with a group of “hometown heroes” from Birmingham, including blind marathon runner Dave Heeley, who was appointed an OBE in the 2020 Birthday Honours after raising millions of pounds for charity.

The Games will take place in Birmingham and across the West Midlands from July 28 to August 8 2022.
Birmingham 2022 CEO Ian Reid said: “We had in excess of 850 000 ticket applications for the West Midlands ballot alone and I think we are nearly at 2 million applications in total following the national ballot.

“So that gives you a sense of the number of people now who want to engage with the Games.
“We’re tracking around 10% ahead, post-ballot, of ticket sales of both the Gold Coast and Glasgow. Of course, Glasgow sold 96% of tickets in total by the end of that journey, following general sales. So that bodes incredibly well.”

The baton will leave the country later from Birmingham Airport and is due in Cyprus on October 9, and Malta on October 12.
It will then be flown to Africa, visiting all 19 Commonwealth countries there, before heading to Pakistan and then Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, Australia, the Caribbean and Canada, followed by the Falkland Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man,

(BBC)