Best-selling author claims there 'was nothing Scottish about James Bond' - until after Sir Sean Connery

By CLAIRE ELLIOT, SCOTTISH GENERAL NEWS REPORTER Published: 19:34, 24 May 2026 | Updated: 19:42, 24 May 2026 He is one of Britain’s best-selling authors, having sold more than 200 million copies of his crime-thriller novels worldwide. But Jack Reacher creator Lee Child has told how he faced the wrath of Ian Fleming’s literary caretakers after claiming there was ‘nothing Scottish about James Bond’ - until after the fictional spy was portrayed on the big screen by Sir Sean Connery. Fleming, a former intelligence officer during World War Two who was born in London into a wealthy family, introduced readers to the world of 007 with his first novel Casino Royale in 1954. He died a decade later, but his works are still ranked among some of the best-selling fiction of all time. When multi-million pound writer Child was asked to write a foreword to a republished series of Bond novels, however, his words went unused when he refused to remove sections that the Fleming Estate objected to. The 71-year-old penned the 1,500-word introduction to The Blofeld Trilogy, featuring Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice in 2009. Sean Connery was the first actor to play the iconic character James Bond But he said: ‘I was unaware that the publishers would have to run it by the Fleming Estate and they objected to it for two reasons.’ ‘Firstly I said that Ian Fleming came from a family of merchant bankers who lived in Mayfair and that, as such, the Depression of the 1930s kind of passed them by. ‘They said 'oh no, life was hell for merchant bankers during the Depression'. But I wouldn't change it.’ He added that they also took umbrage when he wrote that ‘even though Fleming had a distant relationship with Scotland, there was nothing Scottish about Bond.’ In an interview with the Sunday Times he said that ‘after Sean Connery started to play him in the movies, the subsequent books became quite Scottish’ but he insisted ‘that was clearly the author following the actor’. He said: ‘They said 'oh no, Ian Fleming was intimately Scottish'. Because I would not back down, they refused to let my intro be published.’ But Child claimed it was not a wasted assignment as he was still paid by Penguin and was able to find another publisher for his essay. He said: ‘I called it Project You Only Get Paid Twice’. Fleming grew up in London but his grandfather Robert was a wealthy merchant banker in the late 19th century. Fleming was initially not happy with a working-class Scot who ‘couldn't speak the Queen's English’, being cast to play the role of Bond on the big screen in 1962. And after learning that Fleming had referred to him as an ‘overdeveloped stuntman’, Connery described the author as ‘a real snob’. Author Lee Child faced the wrath of Ian Fleming’s literary caretakers after claiming there was ‘nothing Scottish about James Bond' However, after warming to Connery’s portrayal of 007, shortly before his death in 1964 Fleming wrote that Bond had been educated in Edinburgh and had a Scottish father and a Swiss mother. Child felt, however, it was wrong to try to claim that Fleming or Bond were authentically Scottish. He told the publication: ‘Scotland has a high concentration of really good authors, especially in crime fiction. It doesn't need to claim Ian Fleming as well.’ Child, who will headline the international crime writing festival Bloody Scotland in Stirling this September, also revealed that he previously turned down offers to write a new series of officially licensed Bond novels. He said: ‘They wanted me to do it, but I said no. ‘Why would I do Bond books for 50 per cent of the royalties, when I can get 100 per cent with the Reacher books? Child’s best-selling novels follow former military police major-turned vigilante Jack Reacher as he travels around America solving crimes. The Fleming Estate was contacted for comment. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.