One of the highlights of the Olympics opening ceremony – curated and created by creative director Danny Boyle – was the Queens cameo. She volunteered herself to be part of the ceremony, rather than them use a stand in, like Helen Mirren.

Boyle, who was talking to Jonathan Ross ahead of the release of his new movie, Trance, said: "It was part of the protocol - you have to bring in the Head of State and sing the National Anthem - and we thought we'd (do) something different, so we wrote up this idea of the James Bond idea. And we sent it in to them, and we were asking really for permission for them to accept that it wouldn't embarrass them and we'd get a double, a good double, and we were thinking Helen Mirren.” But they didn’t need to even approach Mirren, as they were in line for the real thing. "They came back and said 'we're delighted for you to do it, and Her Majesty would like to be in it herself' - and the surreal thing, 'she would like to play herself'." The Oscar-winning director added: "She said 'what do you want me to do?', and I told her and she said 'fine'."

Danny BoyleDanny Boyle hanging out at The BBC

"So we got in and we started doing it and then she said 'don't you think I should say something?' and I said 'yes, OK, what do you suggest?'. She said 'I'll do something' and we started shooting and she turned round and she said her lines beautifully." Maybe she’s been practising her acting, because, as far as we know, she has the time on her hands.