SYDNEY (AFP) - It may have looked like a lucky quirk of timing, but the queen's photobombing of a selfie at the Commonwealth Games was not a complete accident, an athlete in the image said on Friday.

The image of a beaming Queen Elizabeth II in the background of Australian hockey players Jayde Taylor and Brooke Peris' selfie has gone viral.

Taylor said she and Peris seized the opportunity when, during their warm-down after the Hockeyroos' 4-0 win over Malaysia in Glasgow on Thursday, they saw the monarch at the venue.

"Brooke and I planned it so that when she came out the door she would be behind us," Taylor told Sydney's Daily Telegraph.

"And then she came out and smiled at the camera. We were in the right spot at the right time." Taylor was charmed by the 88-year-old queen who was touring Commonwealth Games venues.

"We were warming down on the second pitch after our game and the Queen came out to meet Donny (team captain Madonna Blyth).

"The security guard led us all round and we got to meet her. She asked us a bit about the pitch, how we were going and told us to enjoy our time here," she said.

"She was lovely. Really, really lovely."

The original tweet, in which the queen appears smiling over Taylor's shoulder, has gone viral, with more than 11,000 retweets by early Friday morning and widespread media coverage.

"Ahhh The Queen photo-bombed our selfie!! #royalty #sheevensmiled #amazing," Taylor wrote as she posted the image on Twitter.

The queen formally opened the Games at a lively Scottish-themed ceremony on Wednesday night.