London 2012 Olympics: how the Queen became top Opening Ceremony act The chopper then flew to the Olympic Park, where Bond and the Queen jumped out, arriving outside the stadium just in time for her big entrance. The two parachutists were Gary Connery (the Queen) and Mark Sutton (Bond) who actually never made it into the stadium but landed somewhere near Stratford station. But when the 86 year-old's surprise appearance was publicly disclosed during the £27 million extravaganza, the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry were all left stunned, said Lord Coe, as they sat around him. The Queen, her Corgis and Bond walk through Buckingham Palace during the film (Picture: Locog/ BBC) Writing in his autobiography in Running My Life, which is being serialised in The Times, Lord Coe said the none of the Royal Family knew about the Queen's involvement nor that the film "even existed." "So when the sequence began, with the corgis racing up what were obviously very familiar stairs, Prince Charles looked at me and began laughing rather nervously, wondering where on earth this was going," he wrote. He said that when the film cut to the back of the Queen, the Prince of Wales had "exactly the same reaction" as the rest of the world, which was to assume it was "the lady who does the impersonations." He added: "But the moment she turned around, and everyone realised, "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 shouted out in unison behind me, "go, Granny!" While I knew we had a winner, I have to admit that I was taken aback by the level of approval it did achieve. Daniel Craig as James Bond and The Queen fly to the Olympic Stadium in a helicopter during the film (Locog/ BBC) In his book, extracts of which are being published by The Times this week, Lord Coe writes how the idea about the Queen's role was discussed at the highest levels of government. The idea was originally floated by Danny Boyle, the director of universally lauded ceremony, who asked "do you think she'd do it?" and Lord Coe was unsure if she would agree. He then raised the idea with Edward Young, the Queen's current deputy Private Secretary, whom he worked with when the pair were senior advisers to William Hague, when he was the Conservative Party Leader. Mr Young, who was Mr Hague's head of media when Lord Coe was chief of staff, thought it funny but warned the choreography would needed to be carefully planned. An actor dressed to resemble The Queen parachutes into the Olympic Stadium during the London 2012 Opening Ceremony (Picture: AFP/ GETTY IMAGES) It was then put to the Prime Minister and Nick Clegg, his deputy, who both thought it "fantastic" with Mr Cameron agreeing to raise the idea during his weekly audience with The Queen. The film was shot on March 27, as the Queen prepared for her Diamond Jubilee celebrations and Craig was working on the next James Bond film, called Skyfall. The three hour film shoot involved more than 130 people and was directed by Boyle himself. Later when he watched the film with Paul Deighton, the chief executive of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog), Lord Coe admitted left them speechless and wondering what they had "sanctioned." The worldwide praise the film generated even left him surprised with only a couple of "dissenting voices" in the international admiration, he added. The Queen arrives at the Opening Ceremony with the Duke of Edinburgh (Picture: REUTERS) Meanwhile in other extracts published by The Times today, Lord Coe writes: How he "lived with the fear" that "some lone wolf could strike" despite the best efforts of the "superb" security services who were working around the clock to protect the Games. How he knew his team were "winning" when his daughter, who only got tickets in the ballot, sent him a text message saying "Archery's sick Dad!," in slang meaning "very cool." That London 2012 became the "women's Games" and how The Princess Royal commented at the end of the first week of competition: "Well, thank goodness, the women have kept you all afloat." That the International Olympic Committee were "decidedly nervous" about Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, but have since come to accept him as "one of the family." The Queen officially opens the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium (GETTY IMAGES)