Queen’s Baton Relay launch marks Commonwealth Games 2018 countdown

Borobi the mascot for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, outside Buckingham Palace. Credit: PA

The Queen’s Baton Relay has officially been launched by Queen Elizabeth II as the countdown to the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018, finally begins.

The relay began with a ceremony and concert in front of Buckingham Palace before the torch heads off on a 388-day, 230,000km journey to the Gold Coast carrying a special message from the Queen.

The Queen, her husband Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, and their son Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, sent the torch on its way for a grand tour of all 52 Commonwealth nations and territories in Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Oceania, Asia and Europe before it arrives to spend the final 100 days touring Australia.