Royal Visit
20th June 2019
The Prince of Wales visited the Bond 25 set today
By MI6 Staff
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales visited Pinewood Studios today during the production of the 25th James Bond film. Escorted by producer Barbara Broccoli, Prince Charles was introduced to the cast and crew that were filming scenes set at MI6. Daniel Craig, now recovered from his ankle surgery, showed off the Aston Martin cars before they toured the MI6 set and met Naomie Harris, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, and director Cary Joji Fukunaga.
All the cast were in costume and make-up as they had been shooting MI6 briefing scenes earlier in the day (the 'injuries' on Craig's face were make-up). Prince Charles later got to watch Craig and Fiennes continue filming a briefing scene. Although he did not recall it when asked, Prince Charles previously visited a Bond set during the filming of 'The Living Daylights'.
A twenty-minute video was released of the tour as well as photos from the sets. The video may contain some light spoilers. As the audio is sometimes unclear, below are transcriptions of the key exchanges:
DC: I can safely say it's not a Bond movie unless I injure myself and this time I got it out of the way early. But it's fine.
HRH: I've just been shown the bar...
DC: Oh yes, that I fall on to, and actually break every glass and bottle unfortunately so I don't get to have a drink.
HRH: They are brilliant how they build these things.
DC: We have a number of them. We run three or four passes, one which is the real pass where everything collapses, and then they are repaired to a degree which we fake... just to make it look as painful as possible really. With not me in it thankfully!
HRH: So someone else is doing that?
DC: It is, yes.
HRH: The wear and tear must be unbelievable.
DC: This clearly is a DB5 but underneath is a BMW engine on a modern chassis with modern suspension.... Oh, it can really go.... Trouble is I break them. We've had five of these made. It's all carbon fiber. I can be inside but the driver can sit on top.
HRH: I hear there was a bit of an explosion
DC: You can see it there. Do you see the building with all the sides gone? They came off!
HRH: What have you been doing this morning?
RF: We've been giving him a hard time. Again. And he's been giving me a hard time.
HRH: But I thought you were supposed to be in retirement?
DC: That's right, but something dragged me back here.
HRH: What, the dreaded Felix Leiter?
DC: Felix... and the plot!
HRH: So, are you about halfway through filming?
DC: No, we're about a third. We go on until October.
RF: Sam Mendes, who directed the last two, brought back the original office.
DC: We sort of damaged MI6, didn't we? It was an excuse to come back in here.
HRH: So, have you done a bit already?
RF: Yes, we're halfway through this confrontational scene.
HRH: The plot's not too intense?
RF: Hmm, just enough [laughs]