On His Majesty’s Secret Service

I took a ride on Metro Line 1 in Budapest on 25th July 2000.

James Bond does the same in Charlie Higson’s enjoyable pastiche. Opened in 1896 the Budapest metro is the oldest in mainland Europe – the London Underground is older. It was built simply and cheaply by digging a deep trench across the city, laying the lines and boarding over the roof, so it’s not deep. It’s called the shutter system. Unusually, nothing happens to Bond on his ride. I was less fortunate. I didn’t stamp my ticket. The ticket seller noticed and ‘phoned my destination station where I was greeted by an inspector and a hefty fine.

In 896 the Magyars arrived where Budapest now stands and the history of Hungary began. The relevance is that no buildings in the city may exceed 96 metres – about eight storeys. The two highest buildings are St Stephen’s Basilica and the Hungarian parliament building, giving Church and State equality, at least architecturally.

Higson’s pastiche crams every Bond trope into just 159 pages – so a novella. 007 wears Charles Tyrwhitt shirts and, pleasingly, drinks Jameson continuing Fleming’s tradition of product placement. There’s a villain in a mountain top lair, an enigmatic blonde beauty, plenty of violence and up to date references to Credit Suisse (RIP) etc. The McGuffin is the coronation. I enjoyed it so much I’m re-reading the only Bond book I have: You Only Live Twice (1964), so late in the series.

I remember the date of my trip to Budapest because Concorde crashed in Paris on that day, as the taxi driver told me on the way to the airport.