The name’s Charles. Prince Charles.
A royal cameo stirred up the set of the upcoming James Bond film on Thursday, when the Prince of Wales dropped by to inspect the newest batch of cars and gadgets and catch up with Daniel Craig, the star of the blockbuster series.
Craig walked Charles around the legendary 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios, just outside London, showing off the film’s custom-made Aston Martins, a DB5 and a V8.
And with the new Bond film expected to be Craig’s last, the heir to Britain’s throne may have set his sights on an entirely different role.
He wore a colorful tie decorated with speed boats and palm trees for the occasion, in a likely nod to the film’s famous action sequences and the fact that the new film is set partly in Jamaica.
But the prince couldn’t resist a quip about some of the setbacks involved in shooting the movie, currently known as “Bond 25.”
“You haven’t had any more things blowing up recently?” he asked a set worker, Britain’s Press Association news agency reported – a reference to an explosion on set that injured one person and left the stage damaged. “Has it been slightly delayed?” he added, to which the man replied, “Slightly, yes.”
Charles was meeting his fellow British icon in his capacity as patron of both the British Film Institute and the intelligence services, with longtime Bond producer Barbara Broccoli also present for his visit.
He arrived during filming of a heated scene featuring Bond and M, played by Ralph Fiennes, in which the actor told Charles he’d been giving Bond a “good dressing down.”
Pictures from the visit also gave Bond fans a glimpse of the Cuban sets featured the movie, which is due out in April 2020.
But production has been far from smooth; original director Danny Boyle pulled out, delaying the release, before Craig suffered an injury during shooting that required surgery and further stalled the project.
Charles’ visit wasn’t Craig’s first encounter with royalty in his capacity as Bond.
He met Queen Elizabeth II in a memorable scene during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was also directed by Boyle.
In the mini-movie, the Queen greeted Bond at Buckingham Palace, before a stunt double for the monarch parachuted into the Olympic stadium from a helicopter.