He recalled attending an event in which Prince Philip asked him what he did for a living. Higson said that the King is “reputedly a James Bond fan”. The late Queen famously featured alongside Craig during a skit for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. The book comes 60 years after the publication of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.įleming’s first novel, Casino Royale, was published in 1953, the year of Elizabeth II’s coronation, and the Royal family have continued to be associated with Bond, often attending the film premieres. The author’s latest book, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, is set two days before the King’s Coronation.īond thwarts a last-minute attempt by a new villain, Athelstan of Wessex, to disrupt the ceremony. Higson said he favoured James Norton,37, the Happy Valley actor, who can play “tough as well as sensitive” and is good-looking but not in “a sort of classical, male model way”. So they’re pretty clever on that front and they will inevitably wait to make the announcement at the right time to get the maximum amount of publicity.” ‘Tough as well as sensitive’ Any doubts you might have had immediately go out the window. “But then he’s just so good in Casino Royale. “In particular, Daniel Craig – nobody had any idea at all that he might be Bond and if you’d been asked in advance, you’d have said, ‘Daniel Craig, James Bond? Surely not’.

“Eon, who make the films, play their cards very close to their chest and a lot of times they really surprise people.

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