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Also in attendance at the opening ceremony will be The Prince of
Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and The Earl and Countess of Wessex.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will visit a
Commonwealth Games venue prior to the opening ceremony, while The
Queen and Prince Philip will visit Commonwealth Games sites on
Thursday 24th July.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince
Harry will attend the Commonwealth Games on Monday 28th and Tuesday
29th July, while The Princess Royal, as Patron of Scottish Rugby
Union, will attend the games on Saturday 26th July.
The first Commonwealth Games were held in Hamilton, Canada in 1930
where eleven countries sent 400 athletes to take part in six sports
and 59 events. Since then, the games have been conducted every year
(apart from 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War) and has seen
many changes in its tenure, not least in its name. From 1930 to
1950, the games were known as the British Empire Games, from 1954
until 1966 they were known as The British Empire and Commonwealth
Games, while from 1970 to 1974 saw the games take the title of
British Commonwealth Games. It was the 1978 games in Edmonton that
saw the games take the name we know today.
The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games are set to be one of the most
memorable games ever taken place. 6,500 athletes and officials from
71 countries will compete in 17 sports over eleven days. From the
precision of lawn bowls to the high adrenaline of track events and
the grace and beauty of gymnastics, Glasgow will be the stage for a
fantastic summer of sport, as well as a massive range of cultural
events for everyone. This will be the third time that Scotland has
hosted the Commonwealth Games and, as seen before, 2014
sees masses of public interest and support for the games.
It seems that the majority of the Royal Family will be at the Games
at some point. On Thursday 24th and Friday 25th July the Duke and
Duchess of Gloucester will be in attendance. As well as being
present at the opening ceremony, the Earl and Countess of Wessex
will attend events throughout the course of the two week games
while the Earl, as Vice Patron of the Commonwealth Games
Federation, will close the Games on Sunday 3rd August.
Photo credit: Mikepaws via photopin cc]]>
