I’m sure we can all remember when Daniel Craig was introduced as the new James Bond: EON obviously tried to pull off a bit of a stunt by having Craig boated up the Thames by marines, but it didn’t really achieve the iconic look they were after. It struck everyone as rather lame, although it was forgotten about as soon as Craig started to play Bond properly. The question now, however, is how might the next 007 actor be introduced to us? Could the producers attempt a similar headline-grabbing stunt, and if they do, what might it look like?

I began to wonder about this earlier: ten years ago we saw Craig as Bond escort the then queen to the Olympic opening ceremony; could it be time for a sequel to that? Wouldn’t it be cool if we were all introduced to the new Bond actor as Bond is introduced to the new king? Of course, it could be naff again, but it could also be quite awesome.

It could be said that Happy And Glorious set all of this in motion. By having Queen Elizabeth interact with one fictional character, the door was opened to the possibility of any member of the royal family being depicted as interacting with any other fictional character. After all, I would certainly argue that we would never have seen the queen sharing marmalade sandwiches with Paddington Bear if she hadn’t first parachuted out of a helicopter with James Bond.

As far fetched as this idea of mine may seem, I nonetheless think it is a possibility; the barriers between fiction and reality are becoming ever more blurred, especially when it comes to concepts like royalty. How incredible would it be to see the new King meet the new Bond? Just imagine the scene: King Charles is, say, eating his dinner. He asks a waiter to come over and asks for a drink. Asked what he would like, he thinks for a moment, and then says that he fancies some kind of cocktail. The man serving the king replies that he would recommend a martini. Charles replies “Excellent idea, how do you like yours?” Only for the sharply suited man to reply, “Well sir, I prefer mine shaken, but not stirred.” Cue the music.