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After a colourful performance of Indian music and dance on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace on Thursday, the baton was passed in turn from the Queen to Patil, to Sports Minister MS Gill, Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi, and finally to the 14 athletes who began the baton relay.
Running with the baton outside the Palace in central London were shooter Abhinav Bindra, former British runner Sebastian Coe, former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev, tennis star Sania Mirza, ‘Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh, British runner Kelly Holmes, England cricketer Monty Panesar, boxer Vijender Kumar, squash player Misha Soni, wrestler Sushil Kumar, British wheelchair table tennis player Susan Gilroy, weighlifter Karnam Malleshwari, hockey star Dilip Tirkey and decathlete Gurbachan Singh Randhawa.
They were cheered by hundreds of people who lined the gates of Buckingham Palace.
The baton was carried to the Queen Victoria Memorial and The Mall in central London, before making its way to Trafalgar Square.
By the end of this epic journey, it will have travelled for 340 days and covered more than 190,000 km, passing through the hands of thousands of individuals across land, air, sea and on many different modes of transport – from bicycle and boat to hot air balloon, steam train and even an elephant.
The baton's journey will take in some of the most remote places in the Commonwealth, including the British-administered territory of St. Helena – accessible only by boat – and the Falkland Islands.
It will enter India from the Attari border with Pakistan on June 25 before starting on a journey of 28 states and seven union territories, covering a distance of over 20,000 km.
The relay will end at the opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on October 3, where athletes will be read out the Queen's message, engraved on a miniature 18-carat gold leaf representing the ancient Indian patra - currently locked in a jewellery box inside the baton.
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