King Charles III and Queen Camilla will attend the opening ceremony of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games on July 23, where the King will officially declare the Games open by reading the message placed inside the King’s Baton at the start of the relay.
The ceremony at Glasgow’s Hydro arena will launch the XXIII Commonwealth Games, with more than 3,000 athletes from 74 Commonwealth nations and territories competing for 215 gold medals across 10 sports over 11 days.
It will also be the first Commonwealth Games of King Charles III’s reign and mark the end of the inaugural King’s Baton Relay, which began at Buckingham Palace on Commonwealth Day, March 10, 2025.
The King will read the message he placed inside the baton when he launched the relay alongside British cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy, the first baton bearer. The reading will officially open the Games.
Sir Chris Hoy, a six-time Olympic champion and two-time Commonwealth gold medallist, will also take part in the ceremony.
The King’s Baton Relay has travelled through all 74 Commonwealth nations and territories over 500 days, making it the longest relay in Commonwealth Games history. Each nation and territory designed and decorated its own baton to reflect its culture and identity.
The relay also supported the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Plastics Campaign, organised with the Royal Commonwealth Society, which encouraged coastal clean-up activities and awareness campaigns aimed at preventing one million pieces of plastic from entering Commonwealth waters.
For the first time, all 74 batons will be brought together in Glasgow. The Scotland Baton, crafted in the city from sustainably sourced ash, will be presented to the King before he reads the concealed message.
Commonwealth Sport President Dr. Donald Rukare said the ceremony would mark the start of a new chapter for the Commonwealth Sport Movement while celebrating the Games’ ability to unite athletes and communities across the Commonwealth.
