Commonwealth Day 2005 got off to a sporting start with the Commencement Ceremony for The Melbourne 2006 Queen's Baton Relay at Buckingham Palace. The colourful event included schoolchildren carrying flags from different Commonwealth countries and London taxi cabs specially designed for the occasion which delivered the relay runners to the stage.
At the end of the ceremony, The Queen handed the baton to the first relay runner, model Elle MacPherson, and the Baton Relay had begun. The baton was then passed to Olympic gold medalists Cathy Freeman and Kelly Holmes, and to British boxer Amir Khan before it began its journey around the Commonwealth.
The Queen's Baton contains Her Majesty's message to the athletes, and is carried from Buckingham Palace, across the Commonwealth to the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.
The Queen's Baton Relay is one of the great traditions of the Commonwealth Games. It has been the curtain raiser to every Games since Cardiff in 1958, and symbolises the gathering of people from across the Commonwealth in celebration of the four-yearly festival of sport and culture.
The baton will travel more than 180,000 kilometres and visit all 71 nations of the Commonwealth in one year and one day and the technology contained within the baton enables it to be tracked as it makes its journey. Its final destination is the opening ceremony of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Following the ceremony, The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh attended the Commonwealth Day Observance Service in Westminster Abbey. The Service is an annual tradition and is a multi-faith observance. The Commonwealth Secretary General, and The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria were amongst the guests, and the aim of the service is to celebrate the sense of community and comradeship within the Commonwealth.
This year's service had as its theme 'Education: Creating Opportunity, Realising Potential', to reflect the contents of this year's Commonwealth Day Message.
This year's message focused on education. The Queen spoke of people within the Commonwealth facing a range of problems, from poverty, to war, to coping with natural disasters such as the tsunami in Asia, and said that education enabled people to cope better with such situations both in terms of finding solutions, and understanding the people and world around them:
'For all of us, knowledge is a life-long journey. Education is a precious gift which should be available to everyone, young and old. Not only does it equip us with the skills and the intellect to overcome the problems we face; it also increases our understanding of - and respect for - other people.'
The evening saw a Reception attended by The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, given by the Commonwealth Secretary General at Marlborough House.
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