A Hollywood Director Thought He Was Being Pranked When Queen Elizabeth Agreed to a "Great Joke" That Echoed Her Worst Fear
The name's Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth.
When the Summer Olympics descended on London in 2012, it was a thrilling time not only for sports fans, but for royal watchers, too. Queen Elizabeth and her family made numerous appearances over the 16-day event—and royal equestrian Zara Tindall even won a medal—but the moment that probably sticks in your brain was a cameo that was never actually meant to happen. The late Queen famously participated in a James Bond sketch that played during the opening ceremony, and its Oscar-winning director, Danny Boyle, thought someone was playing a trick on him when he found out the monarch actually wanted to take part.
Originally, Boyle—who has worked on the likes of Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later—thought he'd get an actress to play the part of The Queen, but needed Buckingham Palace's sign-off. "We wrote up this idea, the James Bond idea and we sent it into them," Boyle told the Jonathan Ross Show in 2013. "We were asking really for permission."
He added that his goal was to make sure the short film—which involved The Queen meeting James Bond (played by Daniel Craig) and later jumping out of a helicopter into the Olympic stadium—"wouldn't embarrass" the Royal Family. Boyle continued that he thought they "would get a double—a good double. We were thinking Helen Mirren."
Queen Elizabeth played herself in the opening skit for the 2012 Olympics.
The late Queen was replaced with a body double during the helicopter jump into the stadium.
Queen Elizabeth entered the stadium to thunderous applause.
To his shock, the palace "came back and said, 'We're delighted for you to do it and Her Majesty would like to be in it herself...She would like to play herself.'"
During filming, Boyle said Queen Elizabeth put him in his place by saying, "I've been at the dentist all morning so I'm not in a very good mood." There wasn't any actual dialogue planned for Her Majesty, so The Queen had the idea to speak on screen and came up with her lines herself.
Ironically, Queen Elizabeth's biggest fear in life was part of the sketch, as she was terrified of helicopters. However, since a stunt double played her role in that scene, the late Queen didn't have to step on board.
Author Tina Brown revealed the late Queen's reason for taking on the role in her book The Palace Papers (via the Daily Mail). "She thought it would be a great joke to amuse her grandchildren," Brown wrote.
"Her only real concern was keeping it a secret until the moment she walked out in person after the 'leap' to take her place with Philip in the royal box," she continued. Judging by the looks on the Royal Family's faces, it seems like Queen Elizabeth's plan paid off.
