London, Sep 27 (PTI): Ending weeks of speculation over who will inaugurate the Commonwealth Games, the British royal family on Monday announced that Prince Charles will declare the event open instead of Indian President Pratibha Patil.

After confusion grew over who will open the event among the two, Charles' office Clarence House issued a statement, asserting that the heir-to-the-throne will inaugurate it.

Charles is attending the Games as a representative of Queen Elizabeth II, the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth who will give the event a miss for the first time in 44 years.

"There is no row. Both The Prince of Wales and the President of India will have a prominent role in the opening ceremony in Delhi. The Queen has asked The Prince of Wales to represent her at the opening of the Commonwealth Games.

"We cannot be specific about the choreography but The Prince will read out the Queen's baton message, ending by declaring the Games open," a statement from the Clarence House read.

Earlier, a British tabloid quoted some of the officials of the Indian Department of Information as saying that the Indian President would open the Games.

The Queen's Baton Relay has acted as the curtain-raiser to every Games since Cardiff in 1958.

It involves the Baton being sent off by the Queen, then carried through each Commonwealth nation until it is passed back to the Monarch as her message to the athletes is ready out at the opening.

According to the official programme, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will be in India from October 2 to 5.

They will spend time with athletes from a broad cross-section of Commonwealth countries and in a series of events in Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan they will see recent progress in the fields of bilateral trade and investment promotion, education, military co-operation, protection of the environment and youth entrepreneurship.

"With bilateral trade standing at £11 billion per year and Indian investment in the UK worth approximately £9 billion, The Prince of Wales will meet senior business leaders to support continued growth of this area of Britain's economy," a recent press release had said.

"The Prince has visited India on many previous occasions and has placed great emphasis on supporting and encouraging the British Indian origin community for more than 30 years, most recently establishing his British Asian Trust in 2007. With The Duchess of Cornwall, he will take the opportunity to celebrate growing co-operation between our two countries," it added.

The Prince of Wales has made six official visits to India while it will be The Duchess of Cornwall's second official visit to India.