Royal photobomb competition heats up at Commonwealths

It's not yet a recognised event at the Commonwealth Games, but the royal photobombing competition is hotting up in Glasgow after The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry arrived in town.

William, Kate and Harry have followed in the footsteps of the Queen by popping up in the background of several pictures taken at the Games as athletes vie to appear in the same shot as the royals.

The young royals appear happy to oblige and Harry in particular has gone to great lengths to make his presence felt at the Games.

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Serial gold medalist Chris Hoy may have retired from the velodrome, but his competitive streak is still in evidence after he posted two pictures featuring the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge lurking in the background on Twitter.

However, Harry's dramatic appearance behind New Zealand rugby sevens coach Gordon Tietjens and deputy chef de mission Trevor Shailer has generated plenty of headlines thanks to his enthusiastic thumbs up gesture.

The youngest member of the royal threesome appears to be in a playful mood in Glasgow: Harry was also caught on camera quizzing Usain Bolt about his love of chicken nuggets and cheekily asking the Jamaican sprint king "do you work out?"

William and Harry also posed for selfies with England netball stars including wing attack Sasha Corbin, who subsequently posted a Vine featuring the royal party and the attendant photographers.

But despite the efforts of the younger generation, they still have some way to go to match the exploits of the Queen, who fired the starting pistol in the royal photobombing competition by cracking a huge grin behind Australian hockey players Jayde Taylor and Brooke Peris.

The picture soon went viral with thousands of retweets in just a few hours, and the 'Queenbomb' was credited with boosting the profile of the Games worldwide, allaying fears that the event was in danger of slipping out of the public eye.