25 July 2002: The Queen declares the Commonwealth Games open in a spectacular ceremony in Manchester  A capacity crowd of 38,000 greeted The Queen in the brand new City of Manchester stadium as Her Majesty marked the start of the XVII Commonwealth Games on the evening of 25 July 2002. Held in Manchester, the Commonwealth Games coincided with the Golden Jubilee of The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth. The competition, which takes place every four years, draws together competitors from countries across the Commonwealth in a range of individual and team sports. It was the largest multi-sport event held in the UK country since the Olympics of 1948. Six-year-old Kirsty Campbell, who has a terminal heart condition, helped her hero, footballer David Beckham, to present the Golden Jubilee baton to The Queen. Beckham ran the last leg of the relay which took the baton thousands of miles across the Commonwealth and throughout the UK. The baton contained The Queen's message to the Commonwealth athletes. The football star handed it to Kirsty before The Queen walked down nine steps to receive it from the little girl. Earlier, Olympic rower Sir Steve Redgrave started the ceremony by marching to the centre of the arena and beating a traditional giant Malay drum, Rebana Ubi, a present to the people of Manchester at the end of the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games. Earlier in the day, The Queen and Prince Philip visited Liverpool. Their first port of call was the new Liverpool John Lennon airport terminal. In the opening ceremony The Queen unveiled a plaque and smoothed back the red velvet curtain to read the inscription, before signing the visitors' book. Yoko Ono, John Lennon's widow, had flown in from New York especially for the occasion, and chatted with The Queen about the special honour given to her late husband. The Queen also met sculptor Tom Murphy, who designed and built the John Lennon statue in the new terminal building. At the city's Walker Art Gallery, The Queen was met by ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and his wife, Heather. They gave The Queen a guided tour of an exhibition of the singer's own artwork. While The Queen visited the airport and the gallery, The Duke of Edinburgh presented certificates to Duke of Edinburgh Award winners at Bootle Town Hall. His Royal Highness rejoined The Queen for a walkabout through Liverpool city centre. At Liverpool Town Hall, The Queen and Prince Philip made an appearance on the balcony to watch a special cultural carnival from the Town Hall balcony, featuring a procession of floats representing countries around the world. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh then attended a reception and lunch, with guests including representatives from local universities, youth organisations and community groups. The Queen made a speech in which Her Majesty expressed her gratitude for the loyalty of the people of the North West: "But above all, I wanted to express my gratitude to all those of you who over many years have offered me much friendship and loyalty. I have been fortunate enough to meet people from so many different backgrounds during my visits. There is something distinctive here - an honesty, directness, and warmheartedness - which I appreciate." After lunch the Lord Mayor presented The Queen with a special rose named 'Liverpool Royal Celebration Rose'. The Royal party then retired before the evening's opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games. Read the full text of The Queen's speech in Liverpool (pdf, 141kB) Read the full text of The Queen's speech at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games (pdf, 138kB) Back to July index