Daniel Craig has reflected on sharing the screen with Queen Elizabeth II during a comedy sketch as part of the 2012 Olympics.
To kick off the event’s Opening Ceremony that year, Daniel appeared in character as James Bond for a scene set at Buckingham Palace.
In the sketch, the late monarch briefly addressed 007 before the two were seen entering a helicopter, which flew over the stadium, ending with a stunt double of the Queen parachuting into the arena.
“What an incredible thing,” Daniel said of the sketch following the Queen’s death at the age of 96 earlier this week.
He told the BBC: “We will not see the likes of her ever again. To be alive during her reign is something else.
″[I feel] very saddened. I suppose good luck to Charles, really.”
Frank Cottrell-Boyce – who co-wrote the sketch, as well as a more recent one featuring the Queen and Paddington Bear – told Radio 4: “We went to the Palace asking for permission to represent her and to know what she was wearing on the day, and it was her amazing dresser who said ‘No, no, she wants to be in it.’ She was game and she was up for that.
“In fact on the day when we were filming, she asked Danny Boyle if she could have a line because there wasn’t a line in the script, probably because when I was typing the script I didn’t quite know how you would type the character of the Queen… What would you type?”
Earlier this year, Daniel told US talk show host Stephen Colbert about a “very funny” joke the Queen cracked at his expense, recalling: “We were having our photograph taken, and she just went, ‘Oh no, he’s the one that doesn’t smile’.”
Of her corgis, who also appeared in the scene, Daniel added: “I was rolling around on the floor with them most of the time. I mean, they’re just there. I think they have their own footmen. They’re very friendly.”
Following the announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death on Thursday evening, tributes immediately began pouring in from world leaders and key figures from the world of British entertainment.
Among those to have since paid their respect include David and Victoria Beckham Sir Paul McCartney , Dame Helen Mirren, who famously won an Oscar for her performance in the film The Queen, and Sir David Attenborough.
The Queen’s eldest son Charles, who became King upon the death of his mother, also said during a national address on Friday: “To my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this: thank you.
“Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years. May ‘flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest’.”