First Batonbearer Tom Matthews, left, and Lemona Chanda who carried it onto the stage ©ITG

The Baton carrying the Queen’s message to the athletes of the Commonwealth has returned to London almost eight months after it began its journey at Buckingham Palace.

It arrived on a sunlit evening at Battersea Power Station where it was greeted by Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin.

"We brought the Baton back to London this weekend so that we could help The Queen to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and it has been fantastic," Martin said.

"If you actually look at the Baton, there is platinum around the edges to recognise that fact," she added.

Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin visited Battersea Power Station to welcome the Queen's Baton back to London ©ITG
Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin visited Battersea Power Station to welcome the Queen's Baton back to London ©ITG

The Baton had made a change from its original itinerary to accommodate the visit.

"They’re not very happy in the Falkland Islands that we did a detour into London, so they are all waiting for it and you are lucky you’ve got it this weekend," Martin told a large holiday crowd on the banks of the River Thames.

Runners began a short journey from the new London Underground station next to the Power Station.

The building, no longer used for generating electricity, is to open as a leisure destination later in the year.

The Power Station's own community choir performed to welcome the Relay with a repertoire which included "Going Underground" by The Jam, perhaps in tribute to the new Underground Station on the network which Londoners know as "the tube".

The first bearer was Tom Matthews, a technician with Sports Technology, who will provide the big screens at Birmingham 2022.

He founded a running club at work and organised a 24-hour virtual relay during the lockdown raising £558 ($701/€558) for the Mind Charity which supports mental health.

"It was surreal, all the photographers at the beginning wanting a picture, its a sign that you are doing something right," Matthews told insidethegames.

Tom Matthews, right, the first Batonbearer at Battersea Power Station, hands it over to Amrit Maan ©ITG
Tom Matthews, right, the first Batonbearer at Battersea Power Station, hands it over to Amrit Maan ©ITG

The final Batonbearer was Bangladesh born Lemona Chanda, a gender equity activist promoting women’s rights.

"I am a product of the Commonwealth, the Queen visited Bangladesh in the year of my birth and I look up to her because she embodies what the Commonwealth stands for," Chanda told insidethegames.

She had lived in Bangladesh and Canada before moving to London.

"During the Games it will be a hard decision, I don’t know whether to root for Bangladesh, or Canada or England, so that’s why I say I stand with everyone and refuse to choose," she admitted.

The Baton is set to visit community sports clubs on Friday and will then be taken to the Tower of London where it will be kept securely in the Jewel House, which is also where the Crown Jewels, the symbols of the British monarchy are guarded.