Helen Mirren games fill-in

Starring role ... The Queen escorted by James Bond

OLYMPICS bosses have admitted they approached Helen Mirren to play the Queen in the opening ceremony – just in case the real monarch refused.

The royal stunt – meeting James Bond at Buckingham Palace and then appearing to jump out of a helicopter – was a highlight of the event.
But Locog’s head of ceremonies Martin Green has revealed they were so convinced she would say no they had to prepare a back-up plan with the star of movie The Queen.
He said: “There were conversations about where we take it if the Queen said ‘No.’ We did talk about Helen Mirren doing it.”
An insider added: “Organisers approached Helen just in case the Queen turned it down but thankfully she wasn’t needed.”
Martin also said during the Edinburgh TV Festival how he and ceremony director Danny Boyle never initially expected that the Queen really would agree to the surprise starring role.

Film role ... Helen Mirren

He said: “Me and Danny went to see the Queen’s private secretary and we showed him what we wanted to do then he took it to the Queen and the answer came back as ‘Yes’.
“At the time we thought we were going to be doing the whole thing with a body double. That was the joy of it.”
It was also revealed that organisers tried to persuade George Michael NOT to sing his new song at the closing ceremony alongside his hit Freedom.
The decision to allow the Wham! star to perform White Light was widely criticised as out of place.
A source said: “Organisers tried to talk George out of singing it but he insisted the song was emotionally connected to his recent near death experience and also his performance at the Olympics.”
Martin added: “It was something that George very passionately wanted.”