commonwealth games prince harry
Prince Harry has joined the Queen in photobombing at the Commonwealth Games Trevor Shailer

In what sounds like the plot of another terrible Dan Brown novel, the UK's Royal Family seem to be competing in a high-level and top-secret photobombing competition.

Much of the Royal clan have decamped to Glasgow in the last week to witness the Commonwealth Games take place and during that time four high-profile members of the family have been seen lurking in the background of other people's photos.

Photobombing - for the uninitiated - is a phenomenon which has taken off in the age of social media. It sees people (and animals) accidentally or purposely putting themselves into the view of a photograph, often in order to play a practical joke on the photographer or the subjects.

The first Royal photobomber to make herself known was the Queen, when she appeared smiling directly into the camera of Australian hockey player Jayde Taylor, who was just trying to take a selfie with a fellow athlete.

Next up was that scamp Prince Harry who was seen pulling a face in the background of a picture of former Olympic boxer Trevor Shailer, Sir Gordon Tietjens and Gary Hermansson.

Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Prince William popped up behind Olympic gold medal winning cyclist Sir Chis Hoy - who called the Prince out on Twitter for his actions.

Hoy it seems was being specifically targeted by the Royals, as later that same day the Scotsman was caught out again, this time by Prince William's wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, who appears in the background of a photo of Hoy taking part in activities with Unicef.

Who will be the next Royal to photobomb at the Games and what does it all mean? Could it be a plot to take over the world or a simple case of being in the right place at the right time?

We are unlikely to find out the answers to these questions any time soon, so for now just keep an eye out when taking selfies that the Queen, Prince Philip or Harry are not lurking somewhere in the background, ready to jump out just as you press the shutter.