Jaws dropped as the world witnessed Queen Elizabeth become the latest Bond girl and skydive (well, almost) into the Olympic Stadium during the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on Friday.
The segment saw James Bond, played by actor
Daniel Craig, arrive at Buckingham Palace in an iconic black London taxi to meet the Queen, who greeted him with the words: “Good evening, Mr. Bond.”
He then whisked her away to a waiting Union Jack-decorated helicopter, where they travelled to the Olympic Stadium and 'parachuted' in.
Although many could scarcely believe that the 86-year-old royal agreed to the cameo, the Queen has described shooting the pre-recorded segment as a "bit of a laugh”.
Reportedly she immediately accepted Danny Boyle’s invitation to film the cameo for the ceremony and shot the piece in just one take.
An official told The Sunday Mirror: “It was not a case of having to persuade the queen to take part.
“Her Majesty said 'yes' to it straight away. She thought it was such brilliant fun. And when the idea for the format was explained to her she was happy with that, too.
“When we came to filming it the queen was a natural. Did it take long? No. Let's just say we only had to film it once.”
The segment was very well-received, with many praising the elderly monarch’s sense of humour and willingness to take part.
But the Queen appears to have had no qualms about her dramatic parachute entrance into the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.
During a tour of the Olympic Park the Queen told Mayor of London Boris Johnson: “It all seemed to go very well last night.”
According to the Sunday Mirror, Boris replied: “You were brilliant Ma'am.”
To which the monarch replied: “It was a bit of a laugh.”
