“We’ve been expecting you…” Taking up one of the most famous lines from the James Bond saga, the British royal family announced Daniel Craig’s decoration on Twitter. The 54-year-old actor, who donned the famous Her Majesty’s agent’s tuxedo in five feature films, from “Casino Royale” (2006) to “Dying Can Wait” (2021), has been made a Companion to the Order of Saint-Michel and Saint-Georges, a rare honor that the author Ian Fleming had granted to his secret agent, embodied for the first time on the big screen by Sean Connery in 1963.
A photo shows Daniel Craig bowing and smiling to Princess Anne, sister of King Charles III, 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.
Who will be the next 007?
Already in 2012, for the London Olympics, Queen Elizabeth II shot a humorous video where James Bond, alias Daniel Craig, picked 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 late due to the Covid 19 pandemic in the fall of 2021, “To die can wait” (“No Time To Die”), with the French Léa Seydoux for the second time as a James Bond girl, was a very great success. at the box office. 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?