If you say it, they will run.

That was the approach taken by England's Prince Harry when he volunteered his older brother and sister-in-law, Prince William and Kate Middleton, to run next year's London Marathon while on live television.

The royal jester was greeting the nearly 40,000 runners who finished the London Marathon Sunday when he thought the field would benefit from the addition of two very high-profile runners.

"What's fantastic is my brother and his wife will be doing it next year," the prince told BBC's Sue Barker, during a live interview broadcast across the country.

"You've just said that live on air," Barker said, to which Harry replied. "He's going to have to do it now, isn't he?'

Harry, 27, attended the marathon in his role as Patron of the London Marathon Charitable Trust.  He was presenting trophies to the winners of this year's race, Kenyans Mary Keitany and Wilson Kipsang, when he made the announcement.

The prince's comments set the internet abuzz with visions of England's most-photographed and sought-after couple running for 26.2 miles around the country's capital city, but  his statement was chalked up to another one of the colorful prince's colorful asides.

According to the BBC, a Clarence House spokesman said the royal couple - William, 29, and Middleton, 30, -  had no plans to enter the race, and that Harry's comments "were said in jest."

As for the big talker himself, Harry also had a quick-witted response as to why he himself had not yet run the marathon.

"I have been trying to get myself a place for years. I can't get myself a place. What do you have to do?" he said.