A new Bond novel, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, is being published in London on Thursday, May 4, timed to mark the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, May 6.
The latest 007 adventure, which arrives 60 years after the publication of Ian Fleming’s 10th novel, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, has been written by Charlie Higson, author of the bestselling Young Bond series.
In real life, security has been stepped up for the coronation. I certainly noticed this on Tuesday when I was on my way to the National Theatre and found there was free and easy access from Waterloo station at 7pm. By the time I tried to get a train back at 10.30 pm, the streets had been sealed as troops were rehearsing a parade and commuters had to walk a long way round past steel barricades to get to the station.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that a man was arrested after throwing suspected shotgun cartridges into the grounds of Buckingham Palace at around 7pm on Tuesday.
The police said the man was searched and a knife was found but that he was not carrying a gun.
He was also found to be in possession of a suspicious bag and a controlled explosion was carried out as a precaution following an assessment by specialists.
The incident is not currently being treated as terror-related but more of a mental health problem.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat described the response as “a fantastic piece of policing”, adding that “a huge security operation” is in place ahead of the coronation.
“As you saw last night, the police and security services are absolutely ready to intervene when necessary,” he told BBC Breakfast.
The King and Queen Consort Camilla — who live at nearby Clarence House — were not at Buckingham Palace at the time of the arrest, although Charles did host Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the palace earlier on Tuesday.
Charles and Camilla will return from the coronation in the Gold State Coach which was ridden alongside the military during a full overnight rehearsal of the ceremony. Rehearsals saw soldiers dressed in bright yellow and red uniforms file past the palace and along the Mall in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The police have made plans to ensure the safety of royalty and heads of state.
Incidentally, the new Bond novel is set in the present day and will see 007 sent at the last minute to thwart an attempt to disrupt the coronation by the wealthy, eccentric and self-styled Athelstan of Wessex, who is on a deadly mission to teach the United Kingdom a lesson. Can Bond dismantle his shady plans and defeat his privately hired team of mercenaries? Higson said: “When IFP (Ian Fleming Publications) came to me with the idea of writing an adult Bond story a little more than a month ago, I was thrilled — until I realised it had to be ready for the coronation in May.
“Getting it written and turned around in such a short space of time was going to be as tense and heart-pounding as any Bond mission. Although, of course, nobody would actually be shooting at me.”
He continued: “But I’ve been thinking about writing an adult Bond adventure ever since working on the Young Bond books, and he came bursting out of me with both fists flying. It was all I could do to keep up with him and get his story down on paper.
“Fleming famously wrote fast, and I channelled that energy. And now it’s so exciting for me to finally enter the world of grown-up Bond.
“Everything you want from a Bond story is in there — sex, violence, cars, a colourful villain with a nasty henchman, and of course, Bond himself. So well-known and yet so unknowable.”
