William, Kate and Harry added: “We all know that this success does not come easy and is the culmination of years of hard work, passionate commitment, sheer grit and determination”.
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The Queen’s message follows that of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, who declared the athletes had “made the entire country proud”.
The impressive medal haul – with 27 golds for athletes including Mo Farah, Nicola Adams, Laura Trott and Jason Kenny – made Rio Team GB’s most successful Olympics since 1908 and best ever “away” Games. “We hope you have all enjoyed the experience as much as we have back home”, they added.
The Queen hosted a glittering reception for the heroes of London 2012 and is likely to do the same for the stars of the 2016 Games. Scottish athletes matched their haul of 13 medals, which was achieved at the London 2012 games, bringing home four gold, seven silver and two bronze medals.
The whole team has worked incredibly hard to give our athletes the best possible platform to perform, from our prep camp in Belo Horizonte and sites around Rio to the work that Mark England and his team did in the Village to make that a real home from home for the team.
The messages of support from the Royal Family follows the success of Team GB at the Olympics, where they finished in second place overall on the medal table.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokeswoman said there would be “no formal cap” on the number of honours which can be awarded to the athletes.
“You are an inspiration to us all, young and old”.
Bill Sweeney, British Olympic Association CEO said: “It has been an outstanding performance from the whole team over the past 17 days”.
Speculation is mounting that British Olympians Mo Farah and Andy Murray are in line for knighthoods given their gold-winning performances, which come on top of many previous achievements.
“It has been a brilliant Games but this is not an overnight success”, he said.
The sovereign offered her “warmest congratulations” for an “remarkable achievement”.
Meantime, researchers at St Andrews University have found that large sporting events such as the Olympics can create a greater sense of community.
It showed the quality of interactions between New Zealanders and strangers improved following the All Blacks’ victory, which led to improved ratings in both physical and mental health.
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He said: “I am so thrilled the athletes have had an opportunity to showcase their huge talent and that was rewarded with Olympic medals and I’m delighted for every one of them”.
