When Queen Elizabeth appeared to parachute into the Olympic Stadium this summer it was hailed as one of the greatest moments in British television history.
As part of the lavish London 2012 opening ceremony the Queen was shown jumping from a helicopter with James Bond actor Daniel Craig, but ever since there has been mystery surrounding how, exactly, she was persuaded to do it – until now.
Lifting the lid on her first movie role, Lord Sebastian Coe has revealed the audacious stunt had been kept a secret from the Queen’s own dumbstruck family who watched it unfold on July 27 this year.
Prince Charles “roared with laughter” and Princes Harry and William began yelling “Go Granny!” as she was shown flying across the London sky before appearing in the Royal box, he said.
In his autobiography, Running My Life and serialized in The Times, Lord Coe discusses how director Danny Boyle, LOCOG CEO Paul Deighton and even Prime Minister David Cameron had helped make it happen and admitted he was “speechless and nervous” about it.
“When we saw those shoes and peach colored dress disappearing into the night sky under a billowing parachute, we [he and Paul Deighton] looked at each other, both thinking <<Oh my God! What have we sanctioned here!>>,” he wrote.
During the ceremony Prince William and Prince Harry were sat behind Lord Coe, who was sat next to Prince Charles.
“Prince Charles looked at me and began laughing rather nervously, wondering where on earth this was going. And when the film cut to the shot of the Royal back, he had exactly the same reaction as everyone else, which was to assume that it was the lady who does the impersonations. But the moment she turned around and everyone realized <<My God! It really is the Queen!>> he began roaring with laughter. As for his sons, they were beside themselves.
“As she started her descent, two voices behind me [William and Harry] shouted in unison <<Go Granny!>>.”
When Queen Elizabeth appeared to parachute into the Olympic Stadium this summer it was hailed as one of the greatest moments in British television history
Danny Boyle had the original idea and Lord Coe knew the Queen’s deputy private secretary Edward Young. David Cameron was then informed, who also thought it was a great idea, so brought it up with the Queen during their weekly audience at the Palace.
“I’ll never forget when Danny showed Paul [Deighton] and me the finished film. Even though we had been involved at every stage from storyboard to final script. the wit, fun and sheer audacity left us speechless.”
The recorded sequence opened at Buckingham Palace, where a tuxedo-wearing Daniel Craig as 007 was presented to the Queen by her personal footman as she was writing a letter and training her corgis Monty, Willow and Holly to roll over.
Greeting him with an “Evening, Mr. Bond”, the Queen, in a rose-pink dress, was seen striding briskly through the palace with the action hero before climbing into a helicopter emblazoned with the Union Flag.
The two were depicted as soaring over the streets of London and through Tower Bridge until they finally reached the Olympic Park.
As the film reached its climax, spectators inside the east London stadium heard an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter, which finally appeared hovering above.
As the aircraft steadied in the movie sequence, Bond was seen opening the door and appearing to hesitate. While he dithered, the figure of the Queen pushed past him and dived out into the air followed by 007 – Union Jack parachutes streaming behind them. Meanwhile, from the real helicopter above the stadium, the same two figures appeared to plunge to earth.
And, with the familiar Bond theme tune sounding around the stadium, the spotlight shone on the Royal Box to reveal the Queen in exactly the same dress she wore in the film.
Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen entered to rapturous applause with Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee.
The Union Flag was then carried into the stadium and raised by representatives of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF.
Director Danny Boyle said: “The Queen made herself more accessible than ever before.”
Nic Brown, BBC Director of UK Drama Production, who produced the sequence, filmed in March, said it had required “a huge amount of planning and resources”.
He said he hoped the result was a film “full of warmth, joy, affection, wit, surprise and excitement and sunshine”.
Organizers said that having to secure permission to fly along the Thames through Tower Bridge – which had never been done before – was a challenge in itself.
The two parachutists who actually leapt from the helicopter last night were Gary Connery, a professional base jumper, and Mark Suttan, a former officer in the Royal Gurkha Rifles.
[youtube 1AS-dCdYZbo]
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius made history at London Games 2012 by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics.
Oscar, Pistorius, a four-time Paralympic champion, 25, whose legs were amputated below the knee as a baby, finished second in his 400 m heat in a time of 45.44 seconds to reach Sunday’s semi-final.
“I didn’t know if I should cry or be happy. It was such a mix of emotions,” Oscar Pistorius said.
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius made history at London Games 2012 by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics
Defending champion LaShawn Merritt of the United States pulled up injured.
The 26-year-old, who failed a drugs test in 2009, appeared to be still suffering with an Achilles tendon problem that affected him earlier in the season.
He stopped running after 250m and crossed the line at walking pace.
“It’s Olympic year – I tried to go for it, and it just didn’t happen,” he said.
Oscar Pistorius was impressive in his heat, coasting over the line behind Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic, who won in 45.04.
“Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me. Thank you so much to my family – I saw my gran in the crowd. It was the most amazing experience.
“This crowd is amazing. I’ve run so many times in the UK and it feels like a second home to me.
“I’ve got to thank my team, they trust me, I trust them. We’ve been together for nine years.”
Oscar Pistorius ran in the individual 400 m at the 2011 World Championships but did not progress beyond the semi-finals.
He also ran in the relay but, after running in the heats, he was omitted from the team which raced in the final as South Africa went on to claim silver.
Oscar Pistorius is also due to run in the 4×400 m relay at London 2012.
[youtube Yx8XS9RvIoU]
Twitter is facing a user backlash after suspending the account of journalist Guy Adams, who had criticized NBC Universal’s coverage of the Olympic Games.
NBC Universal had complained that Independent newspaper correspondent Guy Adams had posted the email address of one of its executives.
But Guy Adams has alleged the complaint was only made after Twitter had alerted NBC to his message.
Twitter said it “does not actively monitor users’ accounts”.
However, the social network refused to discuss Guy Adams’s case, saying “it was company policy not to comment on individual users” for privacy reasons.
Twitter formed a partnership with NBC ahead of the Games to create a page highlighting messages from NBC personalities, athletes and fans during the event.
The broadcaster paid $1.18 billion for the US broadcast rights to the Olympics.
Twitter is facing a user backlash after suspending the account of journalist Guy Adams, who had criticized NBC Universal's coverage of the Olympic Games
Several users have retweeted the executive’s email address in protest at the suspension.
Guy Adams – who is based Los Angeles – posted a message last Friday criticizing NBC’s decision to broadcast the Games’ opening ceremony with a time-delay in order to target a prime-time audience.
On the US’s east coast it was shown with a three-and-a-half hours delay, on the west coast the gap was up to six-and-a-half hours.
This caused problems for users who enjoy swapping comments about major events on social network sites.
“The man responsible for NBC pretending the Olympics haven’t started yet is Gary Zenkel. Tell him what u think,” Guy Adams tweeted, referring to NBC’s Olympics president.
He also included Gary Zenkel’s business email address in the message.
Guy Adams said when he checked his account on Sunday he had received a message saying it had been suspended.
NBC Sports subsequently released a statement confirming it had called for the action.
“We filed a complaint with Twitter because a user tweeted the personal information of one of our executives,” it said.
“According to Twitter, this is a violation of their privacy policy. Twitter alone levies discipline.”
Guy Adams then published an article saying a Daily Telegraph journalist had forwarded him an email from NBC.
He quoted an NBC spokesman as saying: “Our social media department was actually alerted to it by Twitter and then we filled out the form and submitted it.”
Twitter’s terms and conditions say posting another person’s private and confidential information, including “non-public, personal email addresses” is a violation of its rules.
But Guy Adams said he had done nothing wrong, as the address he had used was a corporate one based on the same system used by NBC’s other employees and could easily be worked out by “anyone in possession of 30 seconds of free time and access to Google”.
Many Twitter users have come out in support of Guy Adams.
“Scandal that someone should be banned for voicing an opinion,” tweeted London-based Nicholas Pritchard.
“I think Twitter’s suspension of Guy Adams’ account hurts its own brand. A lot,” posted George Maschke from the Netherlands.
Among the critics were others involved in the media industry.
“Twitter’s suspension of @guyadams jars with company’s claim to be the free speech wing of the free speech party,” wrote the Guardian‘s special projects editor Paul Lewis.
“I wouldn’t have posted the email address. But Twitter’s removing his account was outrageous,” added Dan Gillmor, from the Arizona State University’s school of journalism.
Several users posted internet links to websites that had previously published Gary Zenkel’s contact details. Some also reposted the executive’s email address to Twitter.
NBC has highlighted that a record 40.7 million people watched its coverage of the opening ceremony, saying it was “a great early sign that our strategy of driving people to watch NBC in prime-time is working”.
