King Charles passes the baton at Buckingham Palace event

King Charles and Britain's senior royals gathered at London's Westminster Abbey on Monday for annual celebrations for the Commonwealth which he leads.

Last year, both the 76-year-old king and his daughter-in-law Kate, the Princess of Wales, missed the Commonwealth Day service as they underwent treatment for cancer but both were present for Monday's occasion, one of the major royal events of the year.

Later, Charles, who is the Patron of Commonwealth Sport, officially launched the inaugural Commonwealth Sport King’s Baton Relay for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games at Buckingham Palace on Commonwealth Day.

The Commonwealth Sport King’s Baton Relay for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games is a reimagined Relay for a new era. For the first time ever, each of the 74 Commonwealth nations and territories will receive their own Baton, proudly crafted in Glasgow.

King Charles placed his Message to the Commonwealth into the first Baton, passing it to the first Batonbearer, Sir Chris Hoy, to start the relay with 500 days to go to the Opening Ceremony of Glasgow 2026.

After meeting Commonwealth Sport President Chris Jenkins, the King was introduced to the first four Batonbearers; Sir Chris Hoy, Sammi Kinghorn MBE, Paralympic and Commonwealth medal-winning T53 wheelchair racer from Scotland, Keiran Healy, Royal Commonwealth Society Volunteer, instrumental in the setup of the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics project, and Gabriella Wood, Olympic and Commonwealth Judoka from Trinidad and Tobago, who studies at the University of Stirling. Sarah Adlington, two-time Commonwealth gold medal-winning Judoka from Scotland, and Kadeena Cox OBE, Paralympic gold medal-winner in T38 400m from England, will also take part in the event as Message bearer and Baton holder.