The Olympic torch was formally handed over by Greece to organisers of the London 2012 Olympic Games in a ceremony in Athens.
In damp weather at the Panathenaic Stadium that hosted the 1896 Olympics, the torch was presented to Princess Anne by the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos.
London 2012 Olympic chairperson Sebastian Coe said millions of people in Britain were getting ready to welcome the torch, which arrives in Cornwall in south west England later on Friday to begin its 70-day journey around Britain and Ireland.
It will culminate in the flame being brought to the Olympic Stadium in London for the opening of the Games on the 27th of July.
