Royal Watch News

Queen Elizabeth wanted London 2012 role

Nov 12, 2012, 12:03 GMT

Queen Elizabeth

Britain's Queen Elizabeth insisted on playing a Bond girl in her London 2012 sketch.

Screenwriters had intended for an actress to portray the 86-year-old monarch when Daniel Craig - who starred as James Bond in the Olympics opening ceremony stunt - visited Buckingham Palace to pre-record the popular spoof, but the royal made sure she was directly involved when she learnt of the plan.

Frank Cottrell Boyce, the opening ceremony's writer, told the Daily Mail newspaper: 'We came up with it as a comic idea and expected an actress to take the role of Her Majesty.

'We submitted our plans to the Palace and asked if it was all right to show the queen jumping out of a helicopter. We got a letter back the next day saying: 'This is wonderful and the queen is available for filming on the following day.'

'The guy who gave us the message said, 'It's better not to say anything, just go for it.'â??'

Elizabeth was heavily involved in planning the stunt - which saw the queen greet Bond at Buckingham Palace before the pair got into a helicopter and then appeared to parachute out into the Olympic Stadium - and she even recommended which make of helicopter to use for the sketch.

Frank added: 'We had one meeting with the queen and we showed her the story board with the helicopter, and her only comment was, 'You have a Westland Scout going under Tower Bridge. It really won't fit. You will need a Westland Agusta, that will do the job.' '