Queen Elizabeth launches baton relay for Commonwealth Games

Queen Elizabeth II has presided over the launch of the baton relay for next year’s Commonwealth Games in the central England city of Birmingham

LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth II held her first major engagement at Buckingham Palace since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic a year and a half ago, as she presided Thursday over the launch of the baton relay for next year's Commonwealth Games in the central England city of Birmingham.

British Paralympic gold medalist Kadeena Cox, fresh from winning another two events in Tokyo, had the honor of taking the baton from the queen on the first leg of its 90,000-mile (145,000 kilometer) journey.

The relay will go through 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth over 294 days and will return to Birmingham for the opening ceremony on July 28. Flying out from Birmingham Airport, the baton will first stop on the east Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus on Oct. 9 before departing for Malta, the relay's next destination.

The 95-year-old monarch, who has spent much of the pandemic at Windsor Castle, just west of London, wore a bright orange coat dress and matching hat at Thursday's event.