Her Majesty The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth and Patron,
Commonwealth Games Federation, accompanied by
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, and
His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex, Vice Patron,
will Launch The Queen’s Baton Relay for the
XXI Commonwealth Games being held on the Gold Coast in 2018
Monday 13th March 2017
Commonwealth Day
The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh and The Earl of Wessex, will Launch The Queen’s Baton Relay for the XXI Commonwealth Games being held on the Gold Coast from 4th-15th April 2018 on the Forecourt of Buckingham Palace on the morning of Commonwealth Day, Monday 13th March 2017.
Louise Martin, CBE, President, Commonwealth Games Federation, Peter Beattie, AC, Chairman, Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation and two Elder representatives of the Yugambeh people, will be presented to Her Majesty and Their Royal Highnesses inside Buckingham Palace, and shortly afterwards, the Royal and official party will make their way onto the dais on the Forecourt.
Prior to the arrival of the Royal party, The Queen’s Baton will have been brought onto the Forecourt by Kurt Fearnley, OAM, who will have travelled along The Mall from Marlborough House accompanied by the Band of the Scots Guards.
Also on the Forecourt will be young people each carrying a flag of the 70 Commonwealth nations and territories, and world-renowned Gold Coast singer and environmental champion, Cody Simpson, will perform at the ceremony, representing his home city and country.
The Band of the Scots Guards will play the National Anthems of the United Kingdom and Australia and shortly afterwards, the Elders will deliver an ‘invitation’ to all first nations people of the Commonwealth to unite together to celebrate the Games.
The Queen’s Message will be brought onto the dais and Her Majesty will be invited to place it into the Baton which is then automatically sealed. The Queen then presents the Baton to Anna Meares, OAM, the most decorated female track cyclist of all time, who will then start the Baton Relay by running to the Centre Gate before passing it to cyclist Victoria Pendleton, CBE, to run it around the Queen Victoria Memorial (QVM). The Baton will exit the QVM area and be taken down The Mall with a third Baton-bearer.
The Baton will next be seen at the Commonwealth Day Service in Westminster Abbey and the first stop on The Queen’s Baton Relay following the ceremonies in London will be Sierra Leone. The Baton will travel to all nations and territories of the Commonwealth, before eventually arriving at the Opening Ceremony of the XXI Commonwealth Games on 4th April, 2018.
For further information about the journey that The Queen’s Baton will take, view: https://www.gc2018.com/qbr#
Background
The Queen’s Baton Relay is a Games tradition that celebrates the Commonwealth’s diversity, inspires community pride and excites people about the world-class festival of sports and culture to come.
Since the Cardiff 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (as the Games were known at the time) The Queen’s Baton has carried a message from Her Majesty calling the Commonwealth’s athletes to come together in peaceful and friendly competition.
The GC2018 Relay will be the longest and most accessible in history, travelling through the entire Commonwealth for 388 days and 230,000 kilometres.
The Baton will visit all Commonwealth nations and territories of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania for 288 days before it arrives in Australia.
The Queen’s Baton Relay will share the excitement of the Games with millions of people around the world, shining a light on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and the world-class sporting action to come.
The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games will be staged from 4-15 April 2018.
More than 6,600 athletes and team officials from 70 Commonwealth nations and territories will come to Australia to share in the excitement of the Games.
GC2018 will be the largest event to be staged in Australia this decade.
GC2018 will feature the largest integrated sports program in Commonwealth Games history, comprising 18 sports and seven para-sports.
Australia will host the world’s greatest athletes at GC2018, including Olympic champions, world-class sporting greats and up-and-coming sports stars.
More than 3000 international media will attend GC2018 and broadcast to a global audience of more than 1.5 billion.
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