Cameron hits back after barbed Romney comments

UK: Prime Minister David Cameron insisted Thursday that Britain would deliver a memorable Olympics after US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney backtracked on barbed comments he made about the London Games.

With excitement mounting on the eve of the opening ceremony, Prince William, his wife Catherine and Prince Harry welcomed the torch to Buckingham Palace where tens of thousands of spectators had gathered.

But Romney, in London to attend Friday's opening of the Games, said the preparations had been "disconcerting", pointing to the failure of a private security contractor to provide the number of guards it had promised.

The Republican candidate also wondered aloud whether the British public would get behind the first Games to be held here since 1948.

On the eve of the Olympics, Cameron said security "matters more than anything else", and said he was convinced the Games would prove that Britain could stage a world-class event.

Cameron also said he was sure Britons would get behind the Games despite an economic downturn -- and took an apparent swipe at Romney's past as head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. AFP