Once Upon a Time Queen Elizabeth Jumped Out of a Helicopter with James Bond (Well, Kinda)

Published Nov 13, 2018

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4:12pm

Between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s PDA and Prince William’s proclivity for motorcycles, the younger generation of royals has pushed the envelope on well-established Windsor decorum. But it turns out even Queen Elizabeth has lived life on the wild side a time or two.

Royal historian for The Crown, Robert Lacey, chatted with PureWow exclusively about the release of The Crown season two on Blu-ray and DVD and shared one of Queen Elizabeth’s most out-of-character moments. When asked if Queen Liz had ever broken decorum, Lacey answered, “I think the most surprising moment was when she met James Bond (Daniel Craig) before the 2012 Olympic Games and I saw her jumping out of a helicopter.” Shocked? Then watch this.

Yep, that’s Queen Elizabeth (’s stunt double) hopping out of a helicopter at 4 minutes, 39 seconds.

As Lacey described her participation in the fake stunt, “I couldn’t believe it. It shows she has a sense of humor, but it’s taken many years for her to become that adventurous. I don’t think she would ever have tried a stunt like that in her first three or four decades as the ruler. I think actually as she’s gotten older, she’s got more relaxed and I think it’s partly the influence of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She loves just every so often to surprise everyone.”

And that she did.

Just call her Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth.

Lex Goodman

Cat mom, yogi, brunch enthusiast

Lex is an LA native who's deeply obsessed with picnics, Slim Aarons, rosé, Hollywood history and Joan Didion. She joined PureWow in early 2017.

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