Late Queen Elizabeth suggested playing herself instead of Helen Mirren in James Bond skit

The late Queen played herself in the James Bond skit

The late Queen wanted to play herself in the James Bond skit (Image: BBC)

The late Queen Elizabeth II dismissed the idea of an actor portraying her in a James Bond skit – and the late royal wanted to play the role herself.

Speaking previously on The Jonathan Ross Show about the skit as part of the Olympic ceremony in 2012, Director Danny Boyle said that he had planned to ask Helen Mirren to portray the late Queen, but that she was eager to play out the role herself.

Upon asking the Palace for permission to play out a clip including Queen Elizabeth, and wanting to make them aware that they wouldn’t “embarrass them”, Mr Boyle told Jonathan: “So we wrote up this idea of the James Bond idea, and we sent it into them [the Palace].

“And we were asking really for permission for them to accept that it wouldn’t embarrass them, and [that] we’d get a double, a good double. And we were like thinking, you know, Helen Mirren, you know, who could we ask [and] and who’s a good actor?

“And they came back and said, ‘we’re delighted for you to do it and Her Majesty would like to be in it herself’ and, the surreal thing, that she would like to play herself.”

Mr Ross then asked Danny how she was “to work with” on the set in 2012.

He revealed: “So we did it in the room where she greets the Prime Ministers and before we started I went into the other room, which is where she lives obviously and it’s a regular place with newspapers and tea trays and stuff like that.

“I said ‘hello’, and she said ‘I’ve been at the dentist all morning so I’m not in a very good mood’, so that put me right in my place straight away.”

He explained further: “She then said, ‘what do you want me to do’, and I told her and she was like, ‘fine’.”

Speaking of the plan for the filming day, Mr Boyle revealed that they originally didn’t have dialogue for her – but that she suggested she could have a line.

Telling the director that she would “think of something” to say, he shared that she said her lines “beautifully”.

The late Queen passed away aged 96 on September 8, 2022.