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Queen insisted on greeting 'Mr Bond' in Olympic opening ceremony film, her dressmaker's book reveals
It was a cameo appearance like no other. Few can forget the sight of the Queen receiving James Bond at Buckingham Palace before "parachuting" into the Olympic Park.
And it has now emerged that the monarch insisted on having a speaking role in Danny Boyle's widely acclaimed Olympic opening ceremony, personally choosing her line: "Good evening, Mr Bond."
The revelation is made by Angela Kelly, the Queen's dressmaker and long time confidante, in a new book that is expected to provide a unique insight into their “true and lasting connection”.
In The Other Side of the Coin: the Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, published on Tuesday, Ms Kelly recalls how the landmark Olympic moment came to pass, when she was presented with director Mr Boyle's plan to include the Queen in the ceremony via Private Secretary Edward Young.
“There are few occasions on which Her Majesty will agree to break protocol, but in 2011 when film director Danny Boyle approached the Royal Household, he had a request to make that we simply could not refuse," she writes.
“She was very amused by the idea and agreed immediately. I asked then if she would like a speaking part. Without hesitation, Her Majesty replied: ‘Of course I must say something. After all, he is coming to rescue me.’
“I asked whether she would like to say: ‘Good evening, James,’ or ‘Good evening, Mr Bond, and she chose the latter, knowing the Bond films. Within minutes, I was back in Edward’s office delivering the good news to Danny – I think he almost feel off his chair when I said that the Queen’s only stipulation was that she could deliver that iconic line: “Good evening, Mr Bond.”
The Queen went on to record the five-minute film in utmost secrecy four months before the London Olympics. In it, she received Daniel Craig's James Bond at Buckingham Palace before accompanying him to a waiting helicopter, from which stunt doubles parachuted into the Olympic Park.
Wearing the same outfit as she had "parachuted" in, the Queen then made her entrance, taking her place in the Royal Box.
Ms Kelly's book, serialised in Hello! magazine today charts a 25-year working relationship “characterised by humour, creativity, hard work and a mutual commitment to service and duty”.
In it, she dispels reports that the Queen was offended by Michelle Obama's tactile greeting during a Buckingham Palace reception in 2009, revealing that the two women had in fact enjoyed an instant connection and that "sometimes it feels instinctive to be tactile with her".
Ms Kelly also reveals that she personally wears in the Queen's shoes before engagements to ensure they are suitably comfortable and describes how a replica of the Honiton Christening gown, first used for the christening of James, Viscount Severn, in 2008 was dyed it in Yorkshire tea "(the strongest, as we all know)" to ensure it looked authentic.
"At each stage of the process I would show our progress to the Queen: first the bodice, then the sleeves attached to it, then the skirt with the under-layers on, and finally the completed robe," she writes.
"Her Majesty was very interested to see how it was developing."
The full article in Hello! magazine out now.