The Queen sent off her secret Commonwealth Games message in the baton for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at Her Majesty's Baton Relay event yesterday, and there are a few things that mean it will likely hit a little different for this year's athletes.
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Firstly, the Queen will no doubt mention the pandemic. Much like Prime Minister Boris Johnson's tweet about the games in which he references "a year of pride and celebration" for the UK, it’s almost a dead cert that the Queen will do the same. The athletes involved will also have had to adapt their typical training regimes in order to adhere to coronavirus restrictions, so the Queen may applaud them for doing so.
WATCH: The Queen writes secret Commonwealth Games message
Like Boris Johnson, the Queen's message is also likely to mention the UK's pride in hosting the event. England has hosted the Games on only two occasions previously – once in London in 1934, and again in Manchester and the North West of England in 2002. As Boris said: "The UK is honoured to host these games in the brilliant city of Birmingham."
Last but not least, 2022 marks the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. She will become the first British monarch to celebrate such a milestone, having served for an impressive seventy years, and so it makes sense that she will reference the achievement in her message.
READ: The Queen returns to Buckingham Palace for joint outing with Prince Edward
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The Royal Family shared a glimpse of the Queen's secret message in a video shared on Twitter, showing Her Majesty writing out the note. The post was captioned: "The Baton has been designed by talent from the West Midlands and incorporates a platinum strand, a nod to Her Majesty's Jubilee, a 360 degree camera, a heart rate monitor and LED light displays! The Queen's hand-signed message to The Commonwealth is held within the Baton."
Another point of difference about this year's Baton Relay is that the Queen's message will travel almost half the distance than the previous Gold Coast Queen's Baton Relay, in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint. It will go via a different route across 294 days that covers all 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth.
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