Queen’s delight at her cameo role in 007 stunt at Olympics opening ceremony

The Queen has expressed her delight at playing a cameo role for the James Bond...

14:00 31 July 2012

The Queen has expressed her delight at playing a cameo role for the James Bond stunt that opened the London Olympics 2012. The stunt, which pleasantly surprised over a billion viewers all over the world, saw the Queen in her first screen part alongside the current 007 star, Daniel Craig. 

 

The Queen recounted how she was approached with the idea last year and was ‘very happy’ to agree to it. She had a single demand: to choose her own outfit. She decided on a peach-colored cocktail dress by Angela Kelly. 

 

Danny Boyle, director for the opening sequence, described the Queen as ‘a good actor’ and said that she was ‘very helpful and very sharp’. “You don’t have to tell her something twice, she picks it up straight away, about cameras and angles. She was very gracious in giving us access to Buckingham Palace.”

 

The Queen is also said to have joked with actor Craig during filming: “One take, Mr. Bond.” Craig simply replied, “Yes, Ma’am.”

 

In the final result, agent 007 was seen walking into the Palace to pick up the Queen, who greeted him with ‘Good evening, Mr. Bond’. The pair then boarded a helicopter that flew across London all the way to the Olympic stadium. The final scene showed Bond and a stuntman dressed in the same dress as the Queen, parachuting to the ground, then the Queen, in the same Angela Kelly dress, appeared in flesh at the arena escorted by Prince Philip. Her entrance was perfectly timed to allow the audience to enjoy the moment of the ‘Queen’ jumping from the helicopter.