(London) British actor Daniel Craig, who played James Bond in the cinema for fifteen years, received the same decoration as Agent 007 on Tuesday from the hands of Princess Anne, sister of King Charles III.
Posted at 10:44 a.m.
Updated at 11:14 a.m.
The 54-year-old actor, who donned the famous Her Majesty’s agent’s tuxedo in five feature films, from casino royale (2006) at Dying can wait (2021), was made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, a rare honor bestowed by author Ian Fleming on his secret agent, portrayed for the first time on the big screen by Sean Connery in 1963 .
“We’ve been expecting you…” (“We were expecting you…”), tweeted the official account of the royal family, taking up one of the most famous lines of the saga.
A photo shows Daniel Craig bowing and smiling to Princess Anne, during a ceremony at Windsor Castle.
This decoration was given to the actor “in recognition of his exceptional contribution to cinema and theatre”.
The links between the royal family and 007 go back several years.
Already in 2012, for the London Olympics, Queen Elizabeth II had shot a humorous video where James Bond, alias Daniel Craig, came to pick her up in Buckingham. The montage suggested that the sovereign, then 86 years old, boarded a helicopter before parachuting with the spy above the Olympic stadium.
Released with delay due to COVID-19 pandemic 19 in fall 2021, Dying can wait (No Time To Die), with Frenchwoman Léa Seydoux for the second time as a James Bond girl, was a huge box office success.
Twenty-fifth official opus of the legendary saga on the British spy, it also marked the last James Bond for Daniel Craig.
On his release, the Royal Navy made the actor an honorary commander, the same rank as his character.
The mystery remains whole on the next actor who will pronounce on the screen the famous sentence: “My name is Bond, James Bond”.
To replace Daniel Craig, all options seem open. Could James Bond be embodied by the first black actor in the franchise, as some fans wish?
Or could a woman swap the tuxedo for an evening dress, as suggested by Barbara Broccoli, the historical producer of the saga?
By a playfulness of the scenario, the black actress Lashana Lynch embodied the agent 007 in the last opus. Premonitory?