Queen Elizabeth returns to Buckingham Palace for Commonwealth Games relay launch

Queen Elizabeth has returned to Buckingham Palace for her first major event there since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March last year.

Her Majesty launched the Commonwealth Games 2022 baton relay ahead of the games, which will take place in Birmingham next July.

The Earl of Wessex joined his mother in his role as vice patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation. The Queen is patron and head of the Commonwealth.

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Today's ceremony was the largest the Queen had attended at her London residence since she left the capital as the pandemic began spreading throughout the UK.

The baton will now pass through all 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth - including Australia - taking it on a 144, 840-kilometre journey expected to take 294 days.

For today's occasion the Queen chose an orange Angela Kelly-designed coat and matching hat.

She wore the large Nizam of Hyderabad diamond rose brooch, which was originally part of a tiara given as a wedding gift when she married Prince Philip in 1947.

The original tiara featured three detachable brooches, one large and two small, in the form of roses. But the tiara was dismantled to create the Burmese Rubies tiara.

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The matching necklace has been worn twice by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Underneath her coat the Queen wore a blue and olive patterned dress with a diamond and turquoise brooch, seen when she inspected the baton inside the palace.

During the event in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace the Queen placed a message inside the baton.

The message will be read out in full at the opening ceremony next year.

The baton also contains a strand of platinum in a nod to the Queen's upcoming Jubilee, marking her 70 years on the throne.

British double Paralympic gold medallist Kadeena Cox was given the honour of being the first baton bearer, taking it from the Queen and passing it to Team England squash player Declan James and Team Wales boxer Lauren Price.

The baton was carried past the Queen Victoria Memorial and down the Mall, before being passed to other bearers from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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The baton will next be seen at Birmingham Airport before it departs for the first overseas stop, Cyprus, on Saturday.

It has been described as the "first true smart baton" because of its high-tech features.

The baton includes a 360-degree camera, a heart-rate monitor, LED lighting and GPS tracking. It also has the ability to analyse the environmental conditions wherever it is in the world.

There are 54 members of the Commonwealth, representing a third of the world's population.