As the Queen's Baton Relay continues its journey through the host country, the British monarch was in Glasgow to get a behind-the-scenes look at ongoing preparations for the Games, due to get underway on July 23.

The Royal couple received a tour of Kelvin Hall, which has been transformed into the Uniform and Accreditation Centre (UAC) for the Games workforce, where she met with Glasgow 2014 staff and volunteers.

As patron of the event and Head of the Commonwealth, The Queen and Prince Philip received special accreditation passes for the Games as they were shown round the B-listed building in Glasgow's west-end and were also presented with a special Glasgow 2014 tartan tie and shawl.

"For the Queen to take the time to come here and be presented with her accreditation, and I'm not sure that's been done before, we really appreciate that," said head of operations at the UAC Ed Saayeng.

Around 50,000 volunteers are expected to pass through the doors of Kelvin Hall to pick up uniform and accreditation in the build-up to the Games.

One of those, Louise Martin, met the couple today.

"We only found out we were meeting the Queen this morning so it was really exciting," said the 19-year-old.

"I wanted to volunteer at the Olympics but couldn't then, so with the Commonwealth Games being in my home country, I really wanted to be a part of that.

"Everyone here is so excited and can't wait for the Games to start - this is the first big step."

The Royal couple met with Glasgow 2014 Games staff and volunteers during a visit to Kelvin Hall ©Getty Images



The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh then headed for the Emirates Arena in Glasgow's East End, which will stage the badminton events during the Games.

There they were met by Scottish Commonwealth Games and Sports Minister Shona Robison, Glasgow City Council Leader Gordon Matheson and Glasgow 2014 chief executive, David Grevemberg.

They spoke with members of the Scottish badminton team before checking in on the adjoining Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, which will be home to track cycling where members of Scotland's cycling squad were being put through their paces.

The Queen launched the Baton Relay at Buckingham Palace last October and since then it has visited all 71 nations and territories of the Commonwealth.

It is currently on the last leg of that journey which will see it visiting more than 400 communities throughout Scotland before ending up at Celtic Park on July 23 for the Opening Ceremony of the 11-day event due to finish on August 3.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh keep an eye on Scotland's cycling team as they train at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome ©Getty Images



The Queen will be present at Celtic Park to officially open the Games and will be joined by the Duke of Edinburgh along with the Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are also expected to attend events during the Games between July 28 and 29.

More than one million visitors are expected to visit Glasgow for the Games, which will see around 4,500 athletes competing across 17 sports.

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