It was a case of Castle Royale. Former James Bond star Daniel Craig attended a special investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle in England to receive his ‘007 Honour’ from Princess Anne. The actor was made a ‘Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George’ for his services to film and theatre. The gong is usually awarded for ‘extraordinary non-military service’ overseas.
It is being called Craig’s ‘007 Honour’ because, in a delicious irony, it is the exact same honour held by the fictional 007 in Ian Fleming’s Bond adventures, something the Royal Palace were clearly aware of when they decided upon the type of award that would be appropriate.
The special ceremony took place on Tuesday, 18th October, and Craig wore a navy blue suit for the occasion. In a nice touch, the official photo of Craig receiving his gong from the Princess Royal was captioned on the Royal Family’s Twitter post with the famous line so often associated with the Bond films (a version of which was said, for example, by Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me): ‘We’ve been expecting you’.
Craig, of course, has built up strong links with the Royal Family during his time as 007. He has attended a succession of Royal Bond film premieres, and famously appeared in a mini-movie with the late Queen that was screened just prior to the opening of the London Olympics Ceremony in 2012, where he appeared to parachute alongside Her Majesty into the stadium. Along with his wife, Rachel, Craig has also attended in the past a Royal dinner party at Windsor as a guest of the Queen.
Moreover, during the production of No Time To Die, Craig hosted Prince Charles (now King Charles) during a visit by the Prince to the Bond filming set at Pinewood (‘M’s office), and they apparently conversed at length about their common love of Aston Martin cars.
The award of the ‘007 Gong’ has come at a very good time for Daniel, and as he carves out his post-Bond career. His latest movie, Glass Onion, the second entry in his Knives Out film trilogy, has received some excellent early reviews. The new film, which was premiered at the London Film Festival, is a kind of sequel to 2019’s Knives Out murder mystery, but the director Rian Johnson has strongly emphasised that it is an ‘equal not a sequel’. Craig reprises his role again the eccentric but canny detective Benoit Blanc. It will be released in the UK next month, on 23rd November. Early reviews have been full of praise for the new film. The Metro, London’s commuter newspaper, in its review, said it is this year’s ‘most ingeniously entertaining movie’. That will undoubtedly be music to Craig’s ears.
Former Bond star Daniel Craig