The writer of the James Bond 2012 Olympics sketch has revealed that The Queen volunteered herself to be in it, describing her performances as full of “real joy.”
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who also wrote the Platinum Jubilee Paddington sketch, explained to BBC Radio Four’s Today programme that the Queen was not originally in the James Bond sketch.
However, when the team visited Buckingham Palace for permission to represent Her Majesty on at the Olympics 2012 opening ceremony, they discovered that The Queen wanted to be in the sketch.
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He said: “We went to the palace asking for permission to represent her and to know what she was wearing on the day and it was her amazing dresser who said, ‘No no she wants to be in it.’
“She was game and she was up for that.”
The famous sketch saw The Queen meet James Bond, played by 007 actor Daniel Craig, in a surprise cameo, where she greeted him with the words “Good evening Mr. Bond.”
However, Frank also revealed that The Queen did not originally speak in the sketch, until she made a special request to director Danny Boyle for a line in the script.
“In fact on the day when we were filming, she asked Danny Boyle if she could have a line because there wasn’t a line in the script, probably because when I was typing the script I didn’t quite know how you would type the character of the Queen, what would you type.”
After their meeting, The Queen and Bond walked alongside one another, and the corgis, before setting off in a helicopter towards the Olympic stadium – when a stunt double for The Queen jumped out of the helicopter and parachuted in.
(Image: PA)
The Queen then appeared in the same dress as the stunt double in the stadium, where she was greeted with applause by the public.
Along with the James Bond sketch, The Queen also appeared in a Paddington bear sketch as part of her Platinum Jubilee Celebrations earlier this year.
Reflecting on his memories of working with The Queen, who died at Balmoral on September 8, 2022 at the age of 96, Frank said there was “real joy” in her performance with Paddington.
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“She’s acting with someone pretending to be Paddington with false eye-lines and she’s got lots and lots of lines and there’s a real joy there.
“I think two things to be said about it, the joy is really important. It is a fun thing, Paddington, but it’s not trite.”
He continued: “Paddington stands for a set of values that she stood for as well, for welcoming the stranger, for decency, for politeness in an age that had become very shouty, these were not uncontested values, they are values that she had inhabited and expressed for her whole reign.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
