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Queen Elizabeth II

The Queen and Prince Philip are spectators at the Commonwealth Games

By
26th July 2014

<![CDATA[This week, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were spectators to a whole host of sports during their visit to the Commonwealth Games and Athletes' Village in Dalmarnock, Glasgow.
During a lively Scottish ceremony on Wednesday, Her Majesty officially launched the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Since, she has attended a number of events with Prince Philip, to show her support for the contestants. Earlier this week, she watched the heats of the men's and women's butterfly stroke swimming events with First Minister Alex Salmond and the Chief Executive of Glasgow 2014, David Grevemberg. Mr. Grevemberg spoke about the royal visit, saying: "Her Majesty, as head of the Commonwealth, has been so supportive, making so many visits to the venues. She was loving the swimming."
The Queen and The Duke also watched England defeat Wales 2-0 in the women's hockey. They had earlier met with the Australian women's hockey team, who won against Malaysia in the first match of the Games. The Queen spoke to a member of the team, and told her that she had not played hockey herself, although Prince Philip had.
Interestingly, during her meeting with the hockey team, Her Majesty unknowingly photobombed a selfie taken by two members of the team. Jayde Taylor and Brooke Peris of the ‘Hockeyroos’ were taking a picture for Twitter when The Queen appeared behind them, beaming in the direction of the camera. “We were in the right spot at the right time,” said Taylor, who was charmed by the Head of the Commonwealth. The tweet of the image in which The Queen appears has received widespread media coverage and has been retweeted more than 14,000 times as of Saturday.

The Royal couple were warmly welcomed during their visit to the Athletes Village. There, the Solomon Islands Head of Mission, Ronald Bei Talasasa, a self-professed Anglophile, revealed that he could die happily for having met The Queen. “I love the Queen, I love England. It was a great honour,” he said. “For me to meet her was a dream. I can now die happy.”
The Queen’s cousins, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, also attended the Commonwealth Games on Thursday and Friday, and the Countess of Wessex joined in supporting Team England in the women’s cycling. Princess Anne attended on Saturday, and the Earl and Countess of Strathearn (as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are known in Scotland) and Prince Harry are set to pay a visit on the 28th and 29th of July.
The Earl of Wessex, who is the Vice Patron of The Commonwealth Games Federation, and his wife, The Countess of Wessex, will attend various events throughout the Games, before the Earl closes the Commonwealth Games on 3rd August.
Click here to read Royal Central’s previous post about the Royal Family attending the Commonwealth Games.
Photo Credits: Photo courtesy of Jayde Taylor and Brooke Peris, and Lancashire Evening Post via photopin cc

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