Goldeneye: Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica (46 page)

And from elsewhere: Lady Fiona Aird; Raymond Benson; Hannah Barbara Blake; Barbara Broccoli; Alan Brodie and all at the Noël Coward estate; Professor Barbara Bush; Frances Charteris; Ąjay Chowdhury; John Cork; Julian Drinkall; Professor Mike Faber; Rachel Fletcher; Benjamin Foot; Professor Robert Hill; MarkHolford; Geoff Lucas; Sir Roger Moore; Mark O’Connell; Steve Oxenrider; Sheila Parker; Hal W. Peat; Lee Pfeiffer; Anne and Paul Swain; Ian Thomson; Alex Von Tunzelmann and Calder Walton.

A special thank you to the late, much missed Sally Ford, at whose Welsh hill farm much of this was written and, more importantly, where she provided a magical place for several generations of my family.

I have been blessed with a brilliant publishing team at Hutchinson, in particular Sarah Rigby, my hugely talented, supportive and hardworking editor. I am grateful to everyone at Hutchinson and Windmill for their efforts on behalf of this and my other books, as well as Jane Selley for her expert copy-edit, Mandy Greenfield for her meticulous proof-read, Chris Bell for the detailed index and Richard Carr for his superb design. As before, I was lucky to have the brilliant Martin Brown draw the map for this book.

My agent Julian Alexander has, as always, provided expert advice and warm encouragement. I am also indebted to my US agent George Lucas and publisher Pegasus Books for their support for this project.

Last, but by no means least, love and thanks to Hannah and our family, to Ollie, Tom and Milly, who have watched a lot of Bond films with me over the past few years and with good grace put up with my long absences researching this book and long distraction writing.

Picture and Quotation Credits

Integrated Pictures

1.    Bellevue, 1835. From
Nature & On Stone
by J.B. Kidd. Public Domain.

2.    Fleming boys with their mother. Courtesy of Lord O’Neill.

3.    Young Fleming © The Ian Fleming Estate.

4.    Map of Jamaica, 1752. Library of Congress.

5.    Goldeneye from the sea. Private Collection.

6.    Molly Huggins. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

7.    Whites Wharf, Oracabessa. Photographer: Eric B. White. Courtesy Richard ‘Von’ White.

8.    Fleming and Ivar Bryce. The Orion Publishing Group, London.

9.    Fleming at the back bedroom of Goldeneye. Getty Images.

10.  Fleming eating a sea urchin. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

11.  Errol Flynn. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

12.  Molly Huggins presiding over a mass wedding. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

13.  Norman Manley. Courtesy of the National Library of Jamaica.

14.  Alexander Bustamante. Courtesy Bustamante Industrial Trade Union.

15.  Lady Rothermere and Lady Huggins. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

16.  Ann on the beach. Courtesy of Aitken Alexander.

17.  Ian and Ann on the rock. Courtesy of Aitken Alexander.

18.  Garden and sea from inside Goldeneye. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

19.  Rafting on the Rio Grande. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

20.  Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller. Courtesy Jamaica Inn.

21.  Noël Coward. © Estate of Noël Coward by permission of Alan Brodie Representation Ltd. www.alanbrodie.com.

22.  Evon Blake. Courtesy of the National Library of Jamaica.

23.  Fleming at the Traveller’s Tree. Private Collection.

24.  American military power. Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

25.  Governor Sir Hugh Foot. Crown copyright. Centre of Information, National Archives.

26.  Gathering at Blue Harbour. Courtesy of the Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s.

27.  Port Royal and Kingston Harbour, 1782. Library of Congress.

28.  A Jamaican Maroon. Public Domain.

29.  The Sunken Garden. © Estate of Noël Coward by permission of Alan Brodie Representation Ltd. www.alanbrodie.com.

30.  Ian and Ann with Caspar. Courtesy of the Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s.

31.  
Casino Royale.
Courtesy Random House Archives.

32.  ‘Churchill to visit Jamaica’.
Gleaner,
27 December 1952.

33.  Winston Churchill. © TopFoto.

34.  Fleming and a local fan. © The Gleaner Company Ltd.

35.  Negril. Courtesy of the National Library of Jamaica.

36.  Queen and Prince Philip. Popperfoto/Getty Images.

37.  Fleming and Felix Barriffe. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

38.  Fleming at the main window. © Bradley Smith/CORBIS.

39.  Firefly. Courtesy of the author.

40.  Blue Mountains. © Estate of Noël Coward by permission of Alan Brodie Representation Ltd. www.alanbrodie.com.

41.  Fleming with Barrington Roper. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

42.  Fleming in the water. Private Collection.

43.  ‘Eden: Sunshine Trip’. © Express Newspapers/Express Syndication.

44.  Anthony Eden. Photographer: Eric B. White. Courtesy Richard ‘Von’ White.

45.  Fleming and Blanche Blackwell. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

46.  Effigy of the Governor Sir Hugh Foot. Used with permission of Benjamin Foot.

47.  
From Russia, with Love.
Courtesy Random House Archives.

48.  Kingston’s Kings Street, 1961. Crown Copyright. Centre of Information, National Archives.

49.  Squirrel fish. NOAA Central Library Historical Fisheries Collection.

50.  Fleming, Blanche and Ann. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

51.  Alec Guinness. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

52.  Fleming writing
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
© TopFoto.

53.  Fleming and Sean Connery. Photographer Bert Cann
Dr No
© 1962 Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation. All rights reserved.

54.  Filming
Dr No.
Photographer Bert Cann
Dr No
© 1962 Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation. All rights reserved.

55.  Fleming and Ursula Andress. © Bettmann/CORBIS.

56.  Princess Margaret. Paris Match via Getty Images.

57.  Fleming on his beach. Getty Images.

58.  Ann, Fleming and Miss Myrtle. © National Portrait Gallery, London.

59.  Caspar, Francis Grey, Joan Sillick, Ann and Fleming. Courtesy of Fionn Morgan.

60.  Ann in later life. Photograph by Michael Astor; courtesy of the Hon. Judy Astor.

61.  Roger Moore and Violet Cummings. David Steen/Scopefeatures.com.

62.  ‘For Sale or Rent’ sign. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

63.  Planters. Island Outpost Images/© David Yellen/© Adrian Boot.

Colour Pictures

1.    Goldeneye today. Island Outpost Images/© Peter Brown.

2.    
Live and Let Die; Dr No; Octopussy; The Man with the Golden Gun.
Courtesy Random House Archives.

3.    Myrtle Bank. Courtesy Hutchinson.

4.    Fleming on the water. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

5.    John Kennedy. Getty Images.

6.    Coward and friends. Getty Images.

7.    Ann on her first visit. Courtesy Lord O’Neill.

8.    Port Maria harbour. Island Outpost Images.

9.    Vervain hummingbird. Courtesy Runesm/Creative Commons.

10.  Banana carrier. Courtesy of the National Library of Jamaica.

11.  ‘Portrait of Mrs Ian Fleming’, 1950. Private Collection/© The Lucian Freud Archive/Bridgeman Images.

12.  Fleming and Ann on their wedding day. Courtesy Lord O’Neill.

13.  Katherine Hepburn and Irene Selznick. Getty Images.

14.  Jamaica Inn. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

15.  Tower Isle. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

16.  Blanche and Fleming. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

17.  Goldeneye staff Island Outpost Images/© Adrian Boot.

18.  Chris Blackwell and Ursula Andress. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

19.  Sean Connery and a young fan. Photographer Bunny Yeager
Dr No
© 1962 Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation. All rights reserved.

20.  Blanche, Sean and Noël. © Estate of Noël Coward by permission of Alan Brodie Representation Ltd. www.alanbrodie.com.

21.  Fleming and his catch. Courtesy Island Trading Archive.

22.  Roger Moore. David Steen/Scopefeatures.com.

Quotations

Reproduced with permission of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, London:

Casino Royale
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1953;
Live And Let Die
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1954;
Moonraker
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1955;
Diamonds are Forever
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1956;
From Russia, with Love
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1957;
The Diamond Smugglers
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1957;
Dr No
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1958;
Goldfinger
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1959;
For Your Eyes Only
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1960;
Thunderball
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1961;
The Spy Who Loved Me
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1962;
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1963;
Thrilling Cities
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1963;
You Only Live Twice
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1964;
The Man With The Golden Gun
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1965;
Octopussy
Copyright © Ian Fleming Publications Ltd 1966.

www.ianfleming.com

Reproduced with permission of The Ian Fleming Estate:

‘Where Shall John Go? XIII – Jamaica’,
Horizon
Reproduced with permission of The Ian Fleming Estate, Copyright © The Ian Fleming Estate 1947; ‘Pleasure Islands?’,
Spectator
Reproduced with permission of The Ian Fleming Estate, Copyright © The Ian Fleming Estate 1952; ‘Adventures in the Sun I – The Remora’s Kiss’,
Sunday Times
Reproduced with permission of The Ian Fleming Estate, Copyright © The Ian Fleming Estate 1956; Adventures in the Sun II – Blue Mountain Solitaire’,
Sunday Times
Reproduced with permission of The Ian Fleming Estate, Copyright © The Ian Fleming Estate 1956; ‘Treasures of the Sea’,
Sunday Times
Reproduced with permission of The Ian Fleming Estate, Copyright © The Ian Fleming Estate 1957; ‘If I were Prime Minister’,
Spectator
Reproduced with permission of The Ian Fleming Estate, Copyright © The Ian Fleming Estate 1959; ‘How to Write a Thriller’,
Books and Bookmen
Reproduced with permission of The Ian Fleming Estate, Copyright © The Ian Fleming Estate 1963;
Ian Fleming Introduces Jamaica
Reproduced with permission of ‘ The Ian Fleming Estate, Copyright © The Ian Fleming Estate 1965.

Use of Noël Coward extracts throughout ©
NC Aventales AG
by permission of Alan Brodie Representation Ltd. www.alanbrodie.com.

The letters of Ann Fleming quoted with kind permission of Fionn Morgan.

‘Meditation on Yellow’ from
Gardening in the Tropics
(Insomniac Press 2005) reprinted by kind permission of the author.

Wide Sargasso Sea
by Jean Rhys. Copyright © 1966 by Jean Rhys. Used by permission of W W Norton & Company, Inc. and Penguin UK Limited.

You Only Live Once
by Ivar Byrce. Copyright © Ivar Bryce, 1975, 1984. Quoted with permission of The Orion Publishing Group.

The Traveller’s Tree
by Patrick Leigh Fermor. Copyright © Patrick Leigh Fermor, 1950. Reproduced by permission of John Murray Press, an imprint of Hodder and Stoughton Limited.

Notes

Abbreviations

Diamonds are Forever
(
DF
)

Dr No
(
DN
)

From Russia, with Love
(
RWL
)

Goldfinger
(
GF
)

Live and Let Die
(
LLD
)

Moonraker
(
MR
)

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
(
MSS
)

Quantum ofsolace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories
(
SS
)

The Diamond Smugglers
(
DS
)

The Man with the Golden Gun
(
MGG
)

The Spy Who Loved Me
(
SLM
)

Thrilling Cities
(
TC
)

Thunderball
(
TB
)

You Only Live Twice
(
YLT
)

The Noël Coward Diaries
(
NC Diary
)

The Letters ofNoel Coward
(
NC Letters
)

Pomp & Circumstance
(
P&C
)

Cecil Beaton (CB)

Ann Charteris/Rothermere/Fleming (AF)

Hugo Charteris (HC)

Virginia Charteris (VC)

Lady Diana Cooper (DC)

Ian Fleming (IF)

Epigraph

viii
:  ‘My own life has been turned upside down’: Cargill ed.,
Ian Fleming Introduces Jamaica,
11.

1943: Fleming and Jamaica – First Contact

1
:  the very same journey that will one day be replicated…,
LLD,
(Penguin Classics Omnibus ed. 2003), 204.

2
:  ‘pelting with rain …’,
You Only Live Once,
Bryce, 69.

2
:  ‘resembled a river bed …’, Bryce, 70.

3
:  ‘It was definitely haunted,’ Blanche Blackwell interview, 13 March 2012.

4
:  ‘foods with more variety …’, Bryce, 71.

4
:  ‘really dreadful’, Ibid.

4
:  ‘Ivar, I have made a great decision …’, Bryce, 72.

5
:  ‘is how much of Ian they retain …’, Pearson,
The Life of Ian Fleming,
(Aurum ed. 2003), 6.

6
:  ‘In Jamaica Ian seemed perfectly at home …’, Quennell,
The Wanton Chase,
152.

7
:  ‘rather melancholic …’, Fleming interview,
Playboy,
December 1964.

7
:  ‘If I have to make a choice, I would rather catch no salmon ...’, Amory ed.,
The Letters of Ann Fleming,
53.