The Opening Ceremony

After more than 7 years in the planning the 2012 Opening Ceremony was officially underway last night, after The London Olympics was declared open by Her Majesty The Queen. The Olympic Flag was then brought into the Olympic Stadium, and met by Muhammed Ali.

Lord Coe spoke to the crowd saying he was “proud to be British”. President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge asked the athletes to reject drugs. His thanks to the volunteers and praise for women athletes brought some of the loudest and most prolonged applause.

The Queen made her entrance alongside James Bond himself, actor Daniel Craig, Rowan Atkinson, JK Rowling and Sir Kenneth Branagh also had roles in the Opening Ceremony staged by Danny Boyle. The world’s largest harmonically-tuned bell, weighing 23 tonnes, rang inside the stadium to start the evening. Newly crowned Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins started the show off by ringing the bell.

The spectacle went through until around 1am. Athletes started their entrance parade around 9:30pm. Sir Chris Hoy carried the flag for Team GB. Tower Bridge was also opened to allow a speedboat through with the Olympic flame on board, to make its way to the stadium, driven by David Beckham.