Time for celebration: Prince Harry enjoys Olympics

The 27-year-old royal invited a group of 25 young athletes who won medals in the first School Games, which took place at the Olympic Park in May, and said he hoped the London Olympics were inspiring them to aim for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He said: “Hopefully one of these great legacies of London 2012 will be that the Olympic athletes from this country and around the world will inspire future generations to take up sport. Every one of you here today are now the leaders of that legacy whether you like it or not.

“I urge you to pick up the torch, or in Jeremy’s case, the bell, and I expect to see your faces again when you stand on the podium at Rio and beyond.”

Harry was referring to UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who, last week, nearly hit a group of bystanders after the end of his bell fell off while he was ringing it.

Harry - who is a Team GB ambassador - also had a dig at London 2012 after people were finding it difficult to get tickets.

He told the group: “I hope you’ve all got tickets to watch your events”, before gesturing at Jeremy and adding: “If not, this is your man.”

The School Games is a year-round school sports initiative which uses the inspiration of London’s Olympics and Paralympics to transform competitive sport in schools and get more people playing sport.