The Queen has launched the baton relay for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, with star Australian athletes Anna Meares and Kurt Fearnley playing key roles at Buckingham Palace.
Thousands of people around the palace gates watched as Fearnley carried the baton into the forecourt after the wheelchair racer was escorted up The Mall by the Band of the Scots Guards.
The Queen placed a message to athletes in the baton before passing it to champion track cyclist Meares who started the relay and passed the baton on at the gate.
The baton will travel to all nations of the Commonwealth before the Games in April next year.
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