The Olympic flame has arrived in London in style, brought in by a Royal Navy helicopter and abseiled into the Tower of London.
A Royal Marine commando abseiled with the torch at the fitting time of 20.12 on Friday, the BBC reports.
Dame Kelly Holmes - who won the 800m and 1500m gold medals in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games - became the capital's first torchbearer as she carried the flame on to the ramparts of the Tower.
London games organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe said the Tower of London was a fitting entry point for the flame, because it is not only where the power and significance of the monarch resides, but also houses all the London 2012 medals.
The torch was to begin its procession through London on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, a 17-year-old was arrested after trying to grab the flame as the torch relay passed through Gravesend.
He sped out of the crowd towards the torchbearer and was wrestled to the ground by Torch Security Team officers.
Torchbearer Anna Skora, 23, from Lublin in Poland swerved out of the way but continued with her section of the relay.
