Why Kate’s our Royal Bond Girl
007 Special Edition: The daredevil duchess who stole the headlines from Daniel Craig and other Windsors on Her Majesty’s Secret Service…
After a lengthy pandemic delay, 007 is back – with the best Bond Girl ever. If ever there was anyone who could save the world, it’s James Bond. And while Daniel Craig is going out with a bang on-screen in his final mission, off-screen it was a royal Bond Girl who caused fireworks at the world premiere on Tuesday, in the form of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
Prince William, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, turned up to London’s Royal Albert Hall for the premiere, but it was Kate who went above and beyond on Her Majesty’s Not-So-Secret Service in her dazzling gold goddess gown by favourite designer, Jenny Packham. The sequin dress had a deep neckline, ruched waist and cape and Kate went for a 1960s-style movie-star up-do and dramatic eyes. She looked, quite simply, stunning. Even Mr Bond was lost for words. When she greeted Daniel Craig, he told her, “You look jolly lovely.”
The dress is part of a special Bond collection by the designer, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of James Bond and the design will be available to buy from Tuesday. It should be a big seller - Catherine was so glamorous, she outshone the cast of the movie. The dress was also movingly reminiscent of Princess Diana in her silver Bruce Oldfield gown at the 1985 premiere of Bond movie A View to a Kill. That was a masterstroke by the duchess of diplomacy.
Isn’t that what a modern Bond Girl is all about? Kate’s the all-action royal we need – a daredevil duchess who is playing tennis with Emma Raducanu one day, abseiling and mountain-biking through the Lake District the next and the day after the premiere, kicking a football and handling tarantulas in Northern Ireland.
“How fitting that the dress should have been fitted with a cape, as there remains a growing sense that the 39-year-old mother of three is fast becoming the saviour of the Royal Family,” said The Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey.
Diana always dressed to thrill
Bond premieres and the Royal Family go together like champagne and truffles, and as the film franchise has premiered 25 films during its 59-year history, the royals have been an integral part of the guest list. While Catherine was the girl with the golden gown this week, back in the ’80s there was one royal ruling the Bond red carpet – Diana, Princess of Wales. We remember five of her best looks.
* 1981: Beautiful in Bellville Sassoon at For Your Eyes Only
The then Lady Diana Spencer was only a month away from her wedding to Prince Charles, when she wore a red and gold spangled chiffon gown.
* 1983: Outstanding in Bruce Oldfield at Octopussy
Her stunning slinky sequinned white one-shouldered dress became a signature style.
* 1985: Bedazzling in Bruce Oldfield at A View To A Kill
Diana heralded the ‘Dynasty Di’ years in this iconic design with a cut-out back. It was Sir Roger Moore’s final outing as Bond but all everyone talked about was Diana.
* 1987: Enchanting in Emanuel at The Living Daylights
Diana was all romance when she wore a strapless Emanuel gown. In 2013 it sold at an auction for £100,000.
* 1989: Licensed to Thrill again in Bruce Oldfield at Licensed To Kill
So successful was the Oldfield dress, Diana wore it for another Bond premiere and later for her Vanity Fair shoot just before she died.
William graduates Spy School
He’s the prince of spies - William once went undercover on his granny’s secret service. During a three-week placement in 2019, William spent one week at MI6 - the UK’s secret intelligence service which in the 007 films employs James Bond.
He also had a week with MI5 (the security service which monitors UK domestic terrorist threats) and a week at GCHQ’s top-secret base in Cheltenham. Like all good spies, William’s internship was kept under wraps until he had completed his mission, and once revealed by Kensington Palace, he confessed, “Spending time inside our security and intelligence agencies, understanding more about the vital contribution they make to our national security, was a truly humbling experience.”
GCHQ’s head of counter-terrorism operations, identified only as “David”, said the prince’s time with the agency had given him invaluable insight. “William worked exceptionally hard to embed himself in the team and comfortably held his own among some highly skilled analysts and operators. His Royal Highness asked some probing questions and demonstrated a real grasp of our mission.” Sounds like the next James Bond could be hiding in plain sight.
Bond’s best moment ever
As we bid goodbye to Daniel Craig, our favourite moment of his tenure has to be with the Queen in the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. According to Angela Kelly, in her book The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, the Queen agreed to appear only if she had a speaking part. Who can forget a corgi-or-five-dodging Bond escorting the Queen from Buckingham Palace before they both ‘parachuted’ from a helicopter into the Olympic Stadium.
Angela reveals she was the person to pitch the idea to the Queen on behalf of director Danny Boyle, and HRH was very amused and agreed immediately. “I asked if she would like a speaking part. Without hesitation, Her Majesty replied: ‘Of course I must say something. After all, he is coming to rescue me.’ I then asked whether she would like to say: ‘Good evening, James,’ or: ‘Good evening, Mr Bond,’ and she chose the latter, knowing the Bond films. I think Danny almost fell off his chair when I said that the Queen’s only stipulation was that she could deliver that iconic line.”
The Crown’s secret mission
Don’t get shaken and stirred, but James Bond is joining The Crown. Timothy Dalton has been cast as Group Captain Peter Townsend in the Netflix drama. Dalton, 75, who played James Bond in the 1980s, has a new License to Thrill as Townsend, the first and thwarted-love of Princess Margaret. In the upcoming fifth season we will see him and Margaret, played by Lesley Manville, reunite at an event in the 1990s.
Margaret had been prevented from marrying Townsend in the 1950s, because he was divorced. According to her friend Baroness Glenconner, the pair did meet in their final years. “I lived with her at that time, and I looked out of the window and saw him getting out of the car. He was an old man and yet, in her eyes, he hadn’t changed.”
Townsend died in 1995, aged 80 and Margaret in 2002, aged 71.