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James Bond: The Queen Didn’t Tell the Royal Family or Government about Her ‘James Bond’ Cameo

All of the world-saving capers that James Bond has gotten himself involved in throughout the years have been for queen and country, but it took a pair of major milestones and the perfect confluence of circumstances for the Queen herself to finally co-star alongside 007.

The opening scene of Dr. No, the first James Bond film, was set in and around a nuclear power station during a cold war in 1964. The 50th anniversary of its release occurred on November 17th, 2012, as well as the year London hosted the Olympic Games with an opening spectacular that starred Daniel Craig‘s iconic secret agent.

But the other star was the Queen herself, making a cameo alongside Bond. A cameo which she never told her family that she was participating in.

Not only did the royal family remain in the dark about the Queen’s cameo, but she also kept the news from the British government, according to production designer Sam Hunter while reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the Olympics on BBC Radio 4’s Reunion program.

“The Queen never told her family she was doing it. That was one of the stipulations, that she agreed to be part of it… So, if you actually see when she comes and she takes her seat, you can see her family go, ‘Ah, nice one.’”

Executive producer Stephen Daldry then added that “you didn’t really want to say much to the Cabinet because you didn’t know how secure they were” when explaining why the upper reaches of the administration were also kept out of the loop.

The idea of the Queen hiding her role in a James Bond short film with complete mystery is amusing, given her long tenure as a high-profile and highly guarded public figure with an established presence, but it went down without issue and made for great television!

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