LONDON -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Princess Anne will welcome the Beijing Olympic torch when it comes to London on Sunday.
London organizers confirmed at a news briefing on Thursday that Brown will talk with a disabled athlete torchbearer at No 10 Downing Street before watching him receive the torch outside.
The Princess Royal will attend the grand finale at the Peninsula Square where the final torchbearer Kelly Holmes, women's 800m and 1500m Olympic champion in Athens, reaches the stage to light the Olympic cauldron.
The London leg, as part of the global Olympic Torch Relay, features a 31-mile (approximately 50 kilometers) route, longest among the 21 cities that the Olympic flame will travel to on five continents.
Large crowds are expected to cheer on the 80 torchbearers, including sports stars, celebrities, Paralympians and young people recruited from schools as they carry the torch through ten London boroughs.
Former rower Steve Redgrave, who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games, will start the relay at 10:30 am from Wembley Arena and Holmes is due to reach the O2 Arena in Greenwich at about 6 pm to ignite the cauldron.
Other torchbearers, who will be taking part by foot, bike or boat, include tennis player Tim Henman, the girl band Sugababes, actress Denise van Outen, news presenter Trevor McDonald, violinist Vanessa Mae, sailor Ellen MacArthur and Arsenal footballer Theo Walcott.
A programme of free events is planned at key points along the London route, which will take in Notting Hill, China Town, Trafalgar Square and the South Bank, St Paul's Cathedral and East London.
