GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — King Charles III took his time before officially opening the 23rd Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after emerging Thursday from the TARDIS of intergalactic adventurer “Doctor Who.”
More than 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories will compete across 10 sports and six Para sports in the 11-day event. Charles formally opened the Games in his role as head of the Commonwealth.
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Members of the Australian team reacts as the walk on stage during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Performers dance as they illustrate the artisans of Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's King Charles III, left and Queen Camilla wave to the crowd as the step out of the the Dr Who Tardis police box as they arrive at the start of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Scottish flags are waved by fans as the Scotland team arrives on stage during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Britain's King Charles III, centre, steps out of the the Dr Who Tardis police box as he arrives at the start of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
The opening ceremony show began with a clip of what organizers called “the world’s most famous police box” from the iconic sci-fi TV series going on a journey around Scotland. After visits to Loch Ness, the Kelpies, and Edinburgh Castle, it stopped to pick up Charles and Queen Camilla at Balmoral Castle.
It then materialized inside the Hydro arena — appearing on an onstage garden — and Charles and Camilla emerged, making their way down a ramp before taking up seats in the royal box.
Charles is not the first British monarch to make a memorable entrance to a major sporting event’s opening ceremony.
In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II famously took part in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, with a video of her appearing to skydive into the stadium from a helicopter with James Bond actor Daniel Craig, after he escorted her from Buckingham Palace.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
Members of the Australian team reacts as the walk on stage during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Performers dance as they illustrate the artisans of Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's King Charles III, left and Queen Camilla wave to the crowd as the step out of the the Dr Who Tardis police box as they arrive at the start of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Scottish flags are waved by fans as the Scotland team arrives on stage during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Britain's King Charles III, centre, steps out of the the Dr Who Tardis police box as he arrives at the start of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 23, 2026--
Smart Care Solutions (“Smart Care"), the nation’s leading provider of comprehensive hot & cold side foodservice equipment, specialty coffee and beverage, standalone refrigeration, complex rack refrigeration, cold storage, and HVAC, today announced two senior leadership appointments effective immediately. Veronica Lubatkin has joined as President and Chief Financial Officer, and Jenna Susanke as Chief People Officer, reporting to Chief Executive Officer James Mylett.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260723212627/en/
Ms. Lubatkin brings significant experience scaling complex, multi-location service businesses. Most recently, she served as Chief Financial Officer of RailWorks, the largest rail transportation, construction and maintenance services organization in North America, where she led finance, enterprise risk management and I.T. organization including the ERP implementation across a $1 billion revenue organization. Earlier in her career, she held financial leadership roles in the life sciences industry, including CFO of Par Pharmaceuticals and senior finance positions at Schering-Plough. She started her career in public accounting at Arthur Andersen.
Ms. Susanke joins Smart Care with more than 30 years of human capital leadership across complex, global organizations. Most recently she served as Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer at Veolia North America, a global leader in environmental services. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership and consulting roles at Philip Morris International, PepsiCo, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Aon building a track record of high-performance cultures, developing talent pipelines, and leading organizations through periods of significant transformation.
“As Smart Care continues to grow both organically and through strategic acquisitions, having the right operational and people infrastructure in place is essential,” said James Mylett, Smart Care Chief Executive Officer. “Veronica’s experience scaling large, multi-service organizations and Jenna’s experience in building high-performance cultures will be instrumental as we integrate new business, deepen our customer relationships and strengthen our position as the national leader in foodservice equipment and refrigeration services.”
About Smart Care
Smart Care is the leading provider of comprehensive hot & cold side foodservice equipment, specialty coffee and beverage, standalone refrigeration, complex rack refrigeration, cold storage and HVAC. Smart Care’s strong reputation and leading customer service is built on the foundation of a high-quality technician base, an unmatched breadth of repair and preventative maintenance services and quick response times. Smart Care operates in all 50 states and is OEM-agnostic with the ability to service more than 10,000 types of equipment for food retail, restaurants, convenience stores, warehouse operators and other institutions.
Additional information about Smart Care can be found by visiting www.smartcaresolutions.com.
About Wind Point Partners
Founded in 1984, Wind Point Partners is a Chicago-based private equity investment firm with approximately $9 billion in assets under management. The firm’s Vision, Talent, Transformation (“VTT”) investment strategy focuses on partnering with top caliber management teams around a clear and exciting plan to invest behind a business to achieve transformational growth and value creation. The firm’s Executive Advisor Partner (“EAP”) network is comprised of more than 40 high-caliber executives who are closely aligned with Wind Point and contribute across all aspects of the firm’s investment process.
Wind Point targets well-positioned middle market businesses within the business services, consumer products and industrial products industries. Since inception, Wind Point has deployed 10 private equity buyout funds in partnership with leading institutional investors around the world, including public pensions, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, fund of funds and family offices.
Additional information about Wind Point is available at www.windpointpartners.com.
Jenna Susanke, Smart Care Solutions Chief People Officer
Veronica Lubatkin, Smart Care Solutions President and Chief Financial Officer
