The Invictus Games athletes who gave Prince Harry a cheeky pair of swim briefs said they sized up in case he had a 'dad bod'

• Team Australia sized up the swim briefs they gave to Prince Harry as a prank at the Invictus Games.
• They told Insider they joked with Harry that he might have a "dad bod" since they last saw him.

The athletes who presented the Duke of Sussex with a pair of swim briefs at the Invictus Games in The Hague, Netherlands, have exclusively revealed why he found their cheeky gift so hilarious.

Members of Team Australia told Insider that the Speedo-like briefs they gave Prince Harry had been sized up in case he'd developed a "dad bod" since the last time they gifted him a pair.

They said that the green-and-yellow briefs were a bit larger than the ones Harry received — and modeled over his pants on live TV — during the last Invictus Games in Australia. The international sporting event took place in Sydney in October 2018, six months before Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, gave birth to their first child, Archie, now 2. The couple also has a 10-month-old daughter, Lilibet.

Team Australia gave Harry the second set of briefs at a reception for this year's games in The Hague on April 8.

The celebration honored the wounded military personnel and veterans taking part in the spring contest which had been postponed from 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. The event included wheelchair basketball, cycling, hand archery, and sitting volleyball. The duke, who served in the British armed forces for a decade, founded the games in 2014.

Australian athletes at the Invictus Games shared the moment they gifted Prince Harry the cheeky briefs

Team Australia posted photographs of the encounter on its Aussie Invictus Twitter account. The caption said: "Now that the Duke of Sussex is living in California, Team Australia thought it appropriate to continue the tradition of gifting stunning new budgie smugglers to the Duke."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Now that the Duke of Sussex is living in California, Team Australia thought it appropriate to continue the tradition of gifting stunning new budgie smugglers to the Duke <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/InvictusGames?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#InvictusGames</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IG22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IG22</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/InvictusGamesNL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@InvictusGamesNL</a> <a href="https://t.co/yKNoRNDGc0">pic.twitter.com/yKNoRNDGc0</a></p>— Aussie Invictus (@aussieinvictus) <a href="https://twitter.com/aussieinvictus/status/1515015738783903744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The 37-year-old prince and his family settled in the US in March 2020 after stepping back from official royal duties in the UK. Since parting ways with royal life permanently in February 2021, Harry and Markle have continued to set up and work with charitable causes through their nonprofit foundation Archewell.

Harry had a witty response to the 'budgie smugglers'

Indoor rower Matt Model, of Team Australia, told Insider about how Harry goofed around when he was handed the briefs, often nicknamed "budgie smugglers" in Australia and the UK because of their customary tight fit. They were emblazoned on the back with the slogan: "I Am Team Aus."

The Duke made a point of stretching the waistband as if to check they were the right size for him.

"When he noticed they were bigger, we made a joke that we weren't sure if he had 'the dad bod' going on or not," Model said.

His teammate, Damien Irish, told Insider he joked to Harry: "It's been four years since Sydney, and we've all put on a few pounds here and there during COVID, so the dad bod thing would apply."

According to Irish, the royal gave a witty retort.

"He highlighted the fact that I'd probably gone up a size as well," the athlete said, adding that the prince "took it with good humor and had a giggle and a laugh."

Model told Insider that it was his idea to give Harry the first set of briefs while the royal appeared in a 2018 interview with ABC TV Australia. As US Weekly reported at the time, Harry delighted viewers by trying on the briefs over his pants.

The athletes hope to keep the tradition alive

Model, who won two gold medals in the indoor rowing at this month's Invictus Games, was keen to repeat the stunt.

"Back in 2018, he took it really well and actually put them on over his jeans for a photo," the athlete said. "It highlighted the need and demand to give him an updated pair."

Model and Irish told Insider that they hoped their tradition would be observed by Team Australia at Invictus Games in the future. The next tournament will take place in 2023 in Dusseldorf, Germany.

"Me and Matt won't be there," Irish said, somewhat regretfully passing up the opportunity to give Harry his third pair of briefs. But, he added: "We feel the need to pass the torch down to the next competitors to keep this tradition going on."

Representatives for Prince Harry did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.