Royals to welcome Olympic torch

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge plus Prince Harry are set to give the Olympic Torch Relay a royal welcome when it visits Buckingham Palace on the way to the start of the London 2012 Games.

William, Kate and Harry will be watching as three torchbearers carry the Olympic Flame through the grounds of the royal residence on July 26, the day before the opening ceremony.

The Queen will view the Olympic Flame at Windsor Castle on July 10, Buckingham Palace said.

The Olympic Torch Relay will travel through the grounds of four royal residences on its way to the lighting of the cauldron at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, to mark the start of the Games.

The Olympic Flame will pass through the Balmoral Estate on June 11, the Sandringham Estate on July 4 and Windsor Castle on July 10, where the Queen will meet the torchbearers. No members of the Royal Family will be at Sandringham or Balmoral when the torch relay passes by.

It will also head to Buckingham Palace on July 26, where William, Kate and Harry, who are all Team GB and Paralympics GB ambassadors, will be waiting.

In the run-up to the Games they are working to encourage the public to support the sportsmen and women.

It is likely they will visit the teams between now and the Games, and also have some involvement in the global competitions.

Harry has already met the fastest man in the world, Olympic 100m title-holder Usain Bolt, during a Diamond Jubilee tour to Jamaica last month - and famously beat him in a race.

Kate, who was captain of the first XI hockey team at school, also showed her sporty side by taking part in a Team GB training session on a visit to the Olympic Park last month.