King to launch Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth baton relay

King Charles will launch the King’s Baton Relay at Buckingham Palace later, ahead of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

It is the 18th official Commonwealth Games relay and marks 500 days until the event begins in July next year.

He will hand the baton to champion cyclist Sir Chris Hoy – the first bearer on its journey around the world.

The relay, which begins in London as a part of Commonwealth Day celebrations, will be the King’s first as head of the Commonwealth.

Following Sir Chris Hoy, the next three baton bearers will be wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn, ocean plastics campaigner Keiran Healy and Trinidad & Tobago judo athlete Gabriella Wood – who studies at the University of Stirling.

Trinidad & Tobago will be the first destination for the relay.

The King will place a sealed message into the baton. It will remain inside until the opening ceremony when will be read out to mark the start of games.

Meanwhile, First Minister John Swinney will be in London later to attend the annual Commonwealth Day service of celebration at Westminster Abbey.

Swinney said the games were a “huge opportunity for Scotland on the world stage”.

He added: “Glasgow already has a tremendous record for hosting, receiving international recognition for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

“Glasgow 2026 will bring huge economic benefits to the city and support upgrades to sporting facilities – benefitting individuals, communities and clubs.”

The event will take place in Glasgow from 23rd July to 2nd August next year.

It will feature a 10-sport programme with athletes from 74 nations and territories.

Glasgow was announced as the host of the 2026 Games after the Australian state of Victoria – which had been due to host – withdrew over rising costs.

The deal was secured after the Scottish government agreed to back it and the Victoria state administration promised a £2.3m investment.

Scottish government minister Neil Gray said at the time the fact that the city was asked to step in and host the games was a “testament to Glasgow and Scotland’s fantastic reputation for hosting international events”.

Organisers have stated the Games will come at no cost to the Scottish public purse, with funding coming from compensation paid to the Commonwealth Games Federation after the Australians pulled out.

The UK government will provide financial support in the event of any increased security threat but has said it will not completely underwrite the Games.

The 10-sport Glasgow Games will be a scaled-back version of the last time the city played host in 2014.

The overall number of sports has halved from 20 in Birmingham in 2022 to combat rising hosting costs and time demands.

However, more than 200 gold medals will still be contested at venues within an eight-mile corridor of the city.

Swimming, track cycling and Para sports will each boast more medallists than in any of the previous 22 iterations of the Games.

And athletics will have two new events – the mixed 4x400m relay and the Commonwealth Mile, which replaces the 1500m.

Para sports will be fully integrated across six of the 10 disciplines, with a Games record of 47 medal events in total.

A total of 26 cycling golds will be fought for at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, with eight of those in Para-track cycling. That is double the amount on offer three years ago.

And 56 will be on offer at Tollcross International Swimming Centre, with the men’s 800m and women’s 1500m freestyle races included for the first time.