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Since his very first film mission in 1962, Britain’s suavest and most famous secret agent has officially brought the fast cars, the gadgets and the death-defying stunts to the big screen no less than 25 times.

James Bond is one of the highest-grossing and most popular media franchises of all time – so after several delays, caused by the pandemic as well as other issues, anticipation has reached fever-pitch for the spy’s latest outing, No Time To Die.

It started with the late, great Sean Connery, with George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan all filling 007’s shoes before the incumbent Daniel Craig took over in 2006. (Of course there was David Niven’s Casino Royale spoof in 1967 and Connery’s Never Say Never Again in 1983, too, but as fans will tell you, they were not made by Bond producers Eon, so we’ll count them out).

After No Time To Die, Craig is set to bow out and pass the instructions for the perfect vodka martini over once again.

There has already been lots of speculation about who will play the next Bond – Idris Elba? Tom Hardy? Tom Hiddleston? A – gasp – woman? But that can wait. Here’s a look back at all the films, right from the beginning – the best place to start a James Bondathon. Because nobody does it better…

Dr No (1962)

DR.NO 1962 United Artists film with Sean Connery and Ursula Andress

Bond author Ian Fleming was initially resistant to the casting of Connery as the MI6 agent, describing him as an “overgrown stuntman” who was not refined enough for the role. However, he was later so impressed with his performance that he created a Scottish ancestry for the character in subsequent books. The first film sees Bond in Jamaica investigating the suspected murder of a fellow agent, famously encountering Ursula Andress’s Honey Ryder emerging from the sea in a white bikini during his quest to track down the evil Dr No – who plans to sabotage the US space programme. Spoiler alert: Bond outwits his opponent and rescues the girl – a screen hero is born.

From Russia With Love (1963)

FILM STILLS OF 'FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE' WITH 1963, DANIELA BIANCHI, SEAN CONNERY, SEAN AS "JAMES BOND" CONNERY, JAMES BOND, TERENCE YOUNG IN 1963

 Bond25

The one with the fight scene on the train. No, not that fight scene on the train, with Roger Moore’s Bond and Jaws, the other one. Connery’s train fight scene saw Bond grappling with Red Grant (played by Robert Shaw) and seemed darker and grittier than many of the films that followed. The baddies also included Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) and her lethal knife shoe – spoofed in the Austin Powers films by the character of Frau Farbissina.

Goldfinger (1964)

Goldfinger (James Bond), Gert Frobe, Sean Connery

1964

The gadget-filled Aston Martin DB5! Oddjob’s lethal bowler hat! Death by gold paint! Bond escaping castration by laser beam! Pussy Galore! Shirley Bassey starting the trend for killer theme songs! For these reasons and more, Goldfinger is widely considered to be up there among the best Bonds. “No, Mr Bond. I expect you to die,” is the famous line from Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) during that stressful laser-beam scene. Fortunately, 007 managed to find a way out of it.

Thunderball (1965)

Thunderball - 1965
Sean Connery, Claudine Auger

Sorry Tom Jones, Bassey was always going to be a tough act to follow and your Thunderball just doesn’t compare with the woman with the Midas touch. Still, the film was decent. Bond fact: some 25% of Thunderball screen time takes place underwater, according to the official 007 website. It was billed as the “biggest Bond of all” and it’s certainly quite spectacular: there are spearguns and sharks and a jetpack, which is surely up there with Bond’s greatest ever gadgets? A deserved Oscar for special effect supervisor John Stears.

You Only Live Twice (1967)

You Only Live Twice - 1967
Sean Connery

Bond is assassinated by Chinese agents in Hong Kong! Don’t worry, it’s all been faked so that 007 can travel incognito to investigate the hijacking of American and Russian spacecraft. Of course it has! In You Only Live Twice, we got to see the face of cat-stroking master villain Blofeld, the Spectre chief played by Donald Pleasence, for the first time, and it’s also the one with the piranhas and the volcanic lair. Bond notes: the screenplay for You Only Live Twice was adapted from the Ian Fleming novel, although disregarded most of the plot, by none other than Roald Dahl. Also, this one was back to form with the theme song, thanks to Nancy Sinatra and those opening strings (nicked by Robbie Williams for his 1998 chart-topping hit, Millenium).

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - 1969
George Lazenby

After five films, Connery said he was feeling the pressure and Bond duties were taken over for one film only by the little known Australian actor George Lazenby. The film sees Bond hunting his old foe Blofeld, and is memorable for its ski chase scenes. Also starring the late Diana Rigg as Tracy (aka the Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo) – the only woman ever to get ladies man Bond to the altar. Sadly, they didn’t get a happy ending. Lazenby was reportedly made to do a retake of the scene, without tears. Because James Bond doesn’t cry.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Diamonds Are Forever - 1971
Sean Connery

Connery was enticed back to the franchise, reportedly with a fee of £1.25 million (about £16-£18 million today, adjusting for inflation), and Bassey was back too for her second blistering theme song. This time, Bond impersonates a diamond smuggler in an investigation which leads him to Blofeld once again, in a film that was a little sillier than his previous outings. While the film was a commercial success, later reviews criticised its portrayal of gay assassins Wint and Kidd, and for not making more of the female characters.

Live And Let Die (1973)

Live and Let Die - 1973
Jane Seymour, Roger Moore

1973

One of the best 007 theme songs, thanks to Paul McCartney and Wings, ushered in the Roger Moore era – and the Bond eyebrow. Live And Let Die is the one with the crocodile stepping stones and Jane Seymour’s tarot reader Solitaire, plus Yaphet Kotto as baddie Dr Kananga and his alter-ego Mr Big, the franchise’s first black antagonist. It was a departure from powerful megalomaniac villains to drug-trafficking and voodoo, and while it had all the classic Bond elements of danger and seduction, watching through the lens of 2021 it’s hard to ignore the film’s derogatory clichés.

The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)

The Man With The Golden Gun (James Bond), Christopher Lee, Roger Moore

1974

The MI6 agent is sent a gold bullet inscribed with 007, a warning that he has been targeted by professional assassin Scaramanga – the man with the golden gun and the third nipple, played by Christopher Lee (a step-cousin of Ian Fleming). Moore’s second outing as Bond sees him determined to track down the killer, travelling to a remote island by seaplane accompanied by assistant Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland). There’s a battle to retrieve a solex agitator (us neither), some martial arts thrown in for good measure, and a corkscrew car jump from a rickety bridge that was apparently pulled off in one take. Hervé Villechaize is particularly memorable as henchman Nick Nack.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

The Spy Who Loved Me - 1977
Roger Moore, Richard Kiel

1977

Another famous Bond train fight scene, this time with henchman Jaws (Richard Kiel) and his famous metal teeth, plus more ski stunts involving a ski pole gun AND a Union Jack parachute. Oh, and there’s also the Lotus Esprit that transformed into a submarine, complete with underwater rockets. The Spy Who Loved Me also provided one of the better Bond theme songs, courtesy of Carly Simon and Nobody Does It Better. Once declared “the greatest film ever made” – not our words, the words of Alan Partridge – it’s a favourite of many Bond aficionados, especially fans of Moore.

Moonraker (1979)

Moonraker (1979)

1979

Not a critics’ or fan favourite this one, with a plot involving a hijacked space shuttle and a quest that takes Bond from Venice to Brazil to destroy a highly toxic nerve gas. Bassey returned for the theme song once again but this one doesn’t live up to Goldfinger or Diamonds – sorry, Shirl. There was also a return for Jaws (guess who’s dropped in for a bite, teases the trailer) – and a tense fight scene on a cable car that looks like it could do with a health and safety check, set against the impressive backdrop of Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf Mountain.

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

For Your Eyes Only (James Bond), Cassandra Harris, Roger Moore

Moviestore/Shutterstock

Back from space and a return to slightly more serious Bond, with Moore’s 007 sent to retrieve the Automatic Targeting Attack communicator (ATAC; see what they did there?) from a sunken spy ship. This mission leads him from Spain to Italy to Corfu, in a race against the Russians, with helicopter stunts and a brush with sharks thrown in the mix – all in a day’s work for Bond, who’s also wooing Chanel model Carole Bouquet’s Melina Havelock, the daughter of the murdered marine archaeologist whose killer he is trying to track down. Keep up.

Octopussy (1983)

  .Roger Moore. Octopussy - 1983.

Moore’s penultimate outing as 007 saw him disguised as a clown, a gorilla and a crocodile. Yes, a crocodile. Well, a submarine disguised as a crocodile. Octopussy has everything, boasts the trailer, as the Taj Mahal comes into view: “Elegant palaces and beautiful women.” Not sure the modern-day Bond would get away with that. Octopussy is the Bond with the faberge eggs, former tennis pro Vijay Armitraj, and Maud Adams – who first appeared in Man With The Golden Gun – returning to play the eponymous Octopussy. Plus, twin villains and a stunt involving a small plane flying through a hangar.

A View To A Kill (1985)

A View To A Kill - 1985
Roger Moore

1985

Grace Jones and Christopher Walken brought two brilliant villains to the screen, while Duran Duran brought the ’80s cheese to the soundtrack. Walken plays Max Zorin, the man who wants to destroy Silicon Valley, while Jones is bodyguard May Day. Moore’s last hurrah, A View To A Kill includes the killer fight scene on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, plus more skiing and snowboarding, too – apparently this was the sport’s debut appearance in a major feature film.

The Living Daylights (1987)

 Kell Tyler, Timothy Dalton. The Living Daylights - 1987

Timothy Dalton stepped into the tux to usher in a more serious era for Bond, but perhaps Dalton took it a little too seriously. The Living Daylights had less silliness and far less womanising, but still some impressive action scenes – with a particularly impressive stunt on a cargo plane flying over a desert with a bomb on board, as well as an escape by cello case down a snowy mountainside.

Licence To Kill (1989)

Licence To Kill - 1989
Carey Lowell, Desmond Llewelyn, Timothy Dalton

Bond goes rogue, out for revenge and tracking down the drugs baron who fed his agent friend Felix Leiter to the sharks. This was the final Bond outing produced by Cubby Broccoli and also the fifth and final film directed by John Glen, and the first not to make use of an Ian Fleming story. Dalton took on many of the stunts himself – including running from an exploding tanker – but it wasn’t enough to keep his licence to kill.

GoldenEye (1995)

Goldeneye - 1995
Sean Bean, Brosnan Pierce

After a six-year break, Bond was back! This time with Pierce Brosnan, a man who looks like he was born to be Bond. GoldenEye began the Brosnanaissance with a death-defying dam bungee jump, with stuntman Wayne Michaels later saying in an interview that there “was a trauma clinic ready and an emergency helicopter to rush me to hospital” in case things went wrong. Gulp. Judi Dench also entered the franchise as the first female M – calling out 007 out as a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” – and baddies came courtesy of Sean Bean and Famke Janssen. It was the first Bond to use CGI, moving the action firmly into the 1990s. And Tina Turner provided the pipes for for another memorable theme song.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Tomorrow Never Dies - 1997
Pierce Brosnan, Michelle Yeoh

“Let the mayhem begin.” Jonathan Pryce is the fictional British media baron baddie Eliot Carver, Bond’s main nemesis in Tomorrow Never Dies. Carver wants to start a war between Britain and China, and Bond has 48 hours to sort it out. Michelle Yeoh plays a Bond ally, and performed most of her own stunts – making her more of an equal match than previous female characters – while Teri Hatcher appeared as Carver’s wife. Notable action scenes included an impressive helicopter-motorcycle chase.

The World Is Not Enough (1999)

BROSNAN,MARCEAU, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, 1999 
Alamy

It opens with the longest pre-credit sequence in 007 history, lasting 14 minutes, with a scene including Bond in high-speed pursuit down the Thames – complete with a mid-air barrel roll, a hot air balloon and the yet to be opened Millennium Dome in the background. Denise Richards as nuclear physicist Christmas Jones didn’t make for the most critically acclaimed Bond girl performance, and many reviews felt The World Is Not Enough did not make enough of Robert Carlyle as terrorist Victor “Renard” Zokas. On the upside, alternative rock band Garbage (Stupid Girl, Only Happy When It Rains) were a curveball but great choice for the theme song.

Die Another Day (2002)

Die Another Day - 2002
Halle Berry, Pierce Brosnan

The invisibility cloak might have worked for Harry Potter, but the invisible car was perhaps a step too far for James Bond. Everyone likes a 007 gadget, of course, but it all started to feel like the film was relying far too heavily on the tech trickery. The plot involves Bond getting captured in North Korea by a colonel trading weapons for blood diamonds, who is later revealed to be operating as another baddie, having completely changed his appearance using gene therapy. Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike also star, while Madonna makes a much-panned cameo as a fencing instructor – obviously working some screen time into the contract when she got the gig to perform the theme song.

Casino Royale (2006)

Casino Royale - 2006
Daniel Craig

Bond is blonde! Even this was a talking point at the time, imagine what will happen if they really do cast a woman as the next one! Needless to say, Craig proved any detractors wrong. In a comeback influenced by the Bourne series, the Layer Cake actor ushered in a much grittier era of Bond, while also getting to do his best Ursula Andress impression, emerging from the sea in his trunks. Craig was everything you want Bond to be – cool but bad-ass with a sense of irony – but also made the character feel more real. He even fell in love, with Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd. No spoilers on that one here. Sob.

Quantum Of Solace (2008)

Quantum Of Solace - 2008
Jesper Christensen, Daniel Craig

Picking up just 10 minutes after the end of Casino Royale, Bond was in revenge mode as he quickly uncovered the sinister Quantum, an organisation with double agents in the UK and the US. Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalri and Gemma Arterton also starred, while Jack White and Alicia Keys joined forces for the Another Way To Die theme tune (they obviously decided that singing actual lyrics about Quantum Of Solace wouldn’t work, which was a good call). It’s fair to say this wasn’t as well received as Craig’s debut, but still cleaned up at the box office.

Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall - 2012
Skyfall - Daniel Craig

Even with adjustments for inflation, this one is the highest-grossing Bond of all time. For the first time in 007 history, Skyfall gave viewers something of the agent’s origin story and background on his relationship with Dench’s M. But when you get that emotion you know something’s going to end badly… Elsewhere, Javier Bardem’s Silva made for a memorable Bond villain, and the theme song? Well, when you get Adele on board you know you’re getting a stonker (and an Oscar-winner).

Spectre (2015)

Spectre - 2015
Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux

Spectre fact: it includes a Guinness World Record for the largest on screen explosion (of Blofeld’s lair), according to the official 007 site. But before that, it starts with a shoot-out in Mexico City, and an impressive pre-title sequence based around the country’s Day Of The Dead celebrations which culminates in a knuckle-biting helicopter fight scene. Also starring Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux, who returns as psychologist and love interest Madeleine Swann in No Time To Die. Have we finally entered the era of Monogamous Bond?

No Time To Die (2021)

Daniel Craig as James Bond in No Time To Die. Pic: Nicola Dove

Craig’s last outing coupled with all the delays means there is a lot of hype around this one. Will it live up to it? We know to expect changes, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge brought on board for scriptwriting to help modernise, well, the “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” image. And as Bond has left active service – he’s enjoying a more tranquil life in Jamaica, because even secret agents need a break – there’s a new 007 in town, which has generated more than a few headlines. You can’t replace Bond! With a woman! Nomi, played by Lashana Lynch, took the title when Bond left MI6, which seems fair enough. But what does this mean for Bond? We’ll have to wait for answers to that one, but there is a mission, of course – he’s sent to rescue a kidnapped scientist, and has new villain Safin (played by Rami Malek) to contend with. At two hours and 43 minutes, it’s the longest Bond film ever, so expect maximum stunts – and maximum Daniel Craig. Hopefully he’ll be going out in style.

The premiere of No Time To Die will take place at the Royal Albert Hall on 28 September, with the general release two days later

Photo credits: Rex/ Shutterstock/ Moviestore/ Alamy/ Eon/ Nicola Dove

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Louvre robbery: ‘Matter of time’ before thieves struck, expert says – and UK museums could be next

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Louvre robbery: 'Matter of time' before thieves struck, expert says - and UK museums could be next

A prominent expert in recovering stolen works of art has told Sky News it was “a matter of time” before the Louvre was targeted – and UK museums could be next.

Christopher Marinello says gangs have been emboldened to strike because “law enforcement has been driven into the ground”.

And while headlines have focused on thieves making off with priceless jewellery from an iconic French institution, he warns this problem isn’t confined to Paris.

He said: “There are gangs operating all over Europe and not enough is being done to stop them … this was only a matter of time, they’ve been hitting small museums.

“If they can hit the Louvre successfully, they can hit anything. Do you know how many museums there are in the UK?”

Christopher Marinello investigates art theft the police aren't pursuing
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Christopher Marinello investigates art theft the police aren’t pursuing

At the start of October, at the St Fagans National Museum of History in Wales, it took just four minutes for audacious thieves to swipe irreplaceable Bronze Age jewellery.

He says gangs are targeting gold “just to melt it down” and diamonds for their value – “with no regard for the integrity of the artworks and the cultural heritage that they are destroying”.

A spokesperson for the museum has said: “We sympathise deeply with our friends at the Louvre … it emphasises the increased risk to organisations like ours … this highlights the dilemma we face between having items on display for people to enjoy and learn from – or keeping them locked away.”

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Louvre: How ‘heist of the century’ unfolded

Mr Marinello, who investigates art crimes that the police aren’t pursuing, says institutions and stately homes urgently need to wake up to what’s happening.

“They need to start building vaults for these objects because otherwise they’re going to be taken and melted down and used to buy Lamborghinis or drugs,” he warned.

“If the smaller museums can’t afford it, perhaps they’re going to have to consolidate collections to museums that can handle it.”

Read more:
Staff ‘repeatedly warned about security shortcomings’
‘Race against time’ to recover ‘priceless’ jewels

Empress Eugenie's tiara was among the jewellery stolen. Pic: Louvre
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Empress Eugenie’s tiara was among the jewellery stolen. Pic: Louvre

‘You can’t trust anyone’

Mr Marinello went on to warn that gangs are becoming “more brazen” – with the Louvre targeted despite the security measures it had in place.

“The system is not working … the penalties are not strong enough … police are frustrated, prosecutors say the same thing because there’s nowhere to put these people.”

The art recovery expert says he’s concerned how funding cutbacks are making our museums more vulnerable to those who recognise that the obvious rewards outweigh the risks.

The Louvre is one of the most famous landmarks in Paris
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The Louvre is one of the most famous landmarks in Paris

“These museums are designed to preserve and protect our cultural heritage, and they need to be properly funded to do that job,” he added. “They need to be able to stay one step ahead of the criminals.”

“This is not the 1950s any more, you can’t trust anyone. These items are so valuable, and gold is at an all-time high.

“[Thieves] don’t care if an item belonged to Napoleon III, it means nothing to them. All they care about is quick cash.”

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Harper Lee mystery:  Is there a To Kill A Mockingbird prequel and true crime novel ‘waiting to be published’?

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Harper Lee mystery:  Is there a To Kill A Mockingbird prequel and true crime novel 'waiting to be published'?

One of Harper Lee’s surviving relatives says it’s possible there could be major unpublished works by the author still to be discovered, following the release of eight of her previously unseen short stories.

Describing the mystery around a manuscript titled The Long Goodbye, which Lee wrote before To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee’s nephew, Dr Edwin Conner, told Sky News: “Even the family doesn’t know everything that remains in her papers. So, it could be there waiting to be published.”

Dr Conner says Lee submitted a 111-page manuscript, titled The Long Goodbye, after writing Go Set A Watchman in 1957.

The retired English professor explains: “It’s not clear to me or to others in the family, to what extent [The Long Goodbye] might have been integrated into To Kill a Mockingbird, which she wrote immediately after, or to what extent it was a freestanding manuscript that is altogether different and that might stand to be published in the future.”

Lee researched Reverend Maxwell's death, but no book was ever published. Pic: AP
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Lee researched Reverend Maxwell’s death, but no book was ever published. Pic: AP

A second mystery exists in the form of a true crime novel, The Reverend, which Lee was known to have begun researching in the late 1970s, about Alabama preacher Reverend Willie Maxwell who was accused of five murders before being murdered himself.

Dr Conner said: “The manuscript of a nonfiction piece, that according to some people doesn’t exist, according to others who claim to have seen it, does [is also a mystery]. We don’t know where it is, or whether it is, really.

“That could be a surprise that has yet to be revealed if we discover it and it’s published, which is a real possibility.”

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He believes much of the manuscript was written in his family home and says his mother, Louise, who was Lee’s older sister, saw a “finished version of it” on the dining room table.

Dr Conner says there are “others who just as fiercely say no, it was never completed”.

A C Lee (L) - the inspiration for Atticus Finch with his grandchildren, including Edwin Conner (C), in 1953
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A C Lee (L) – the inspiration for Atticus Finch with his grandchildren, including Edwin Conner (C), in 1953

‘She did want to publish these stories’

There has long been debate over why Lee published just two books in her lifetime.

To Kill a Mockingbird came out in 1960. Selling more than 46 million copies worldwide, translated into more than 40 languages and winning a Pulitzer Prize, it’s arguably the most influential American book of the 20th century.

Fifty-five years later, Lee published a sequel, Go Set A Watchman, written ahead of Mockingbird, but set at a later date.

Then aged 88, and with failing health, there were questions over how much influence Lee had over the decision to publish.

Asked how happy she’d be to see some of her earliest work, containing early outlines for Mockingbird’s narrator Jean Louise Finch and the story’s hero Atticus Finch, now hitting the shelves, Dr Conner says: “I think she’d be delighted.”

A previously unseen image of one of Lee's short story transcripts. Pic: Harper Lee Estate
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A previously unseen image of one of Lee’s short story transcripts. Pic: Harper Lee Estate

He says Lee had presented them to her first agent, Maurice Crane, at their first meeting in 1956, “precisely because she did want to publish these stories”.

And while dubbing them “apprentice stories,” which he admits “don’t represent her at her best as a writer,” he says they show “literary genius of a kind”.

Notoriously private, he says the stories – which were discovered neatly typed out in one of Lee’s New York apartments after her death – offer “deeply enthralling new glimpses into her as a person”.

Never marrying or having children, he says Lee maintained a degree of privacy even with her family: “You never saw her complete personality… We thought we knew her, we thought we’d seen everything, but no, we hadn’t.”

George W Bush awards Lee with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007. Pic: Reuters
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George W Bush awards Lee with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007. Pic: Reuters

‘That’s it, I’m not giving any more interviews’

While describing her as a “complicated woman,” he insists Lee was far from the recluse she’s frequently painted as.

He says: “In company, she was most of the time delightful. She was a lively personality, she was funny, witty, and you would think she was very outgoing.”

But Lee was known to have struggled with her success.

Dr Conner explains: “She never ever wanted fame or celebrity because she suspected, or knew, that would involve the kind of uncomfortable situations in public situations that she found just no satisfaction or pleasure in”.

He says while in the early years of Mockingbird Lee gave interviews, the wild success of the book soon rendered such promotion unnecessary, leading her to decide: “That’s it, I’m not giving any more interviews”.

While he admits she was subsequently much happier, he goes on: “Not that she was a recluse, as some people thought. She wasn’t at all a recluse, but she didn’t enjoy public appearances and interviews particularly. She wanted the work to speak for itself.”

Truman Capote and Harper Lee in April 1963. Pic: AP/The Broadmoor Historic Collection
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Truman Capote and Harper Lee in April 1963. Pic: AP/The Broadmoor Historic Collection

‘Deeply hurt’ by Truman Capote

Famously close to Truman Capote, one of the pieces in Lee’s newly released collection is a profile of her fellow author.

Dr Conner says that piece – a love-letter of sorts, describing Capote’s literary achievements – is all the more remarkable because at the point Lee wrote it in 1966, when she and Capote “were not even on speaking terms”.

He says Lee “probably knew [Capote] better than any other person alive when that was written”, adding, “she did love him as a friend very much, even when he was not speaking to her”.

Friends since childhood – and the prototype for the character of Dill in Mockingbird – Capote later hired Lee to help him research his 1965 true crime novel In Cold Blood.

Despite his book’s relative success, Dr Conner believes Capote was “bitter” over the fact Mockingbird far eclipsed it in accolades and recognition.

“He had been writing for much longer. He felt that he was at least as good as she was, and he was very envious of her success”.

Dr Conner says Lee was “deeply hurt” at Capote’s rejection of her, never speaking about him in later life.

Recalling his own meeting with Capote many years later, Dr Conner says he “got a personal sense of how [Capote] could charm the socks off of anybody, male or female”.

He says it was noteworthy that while Capote asked about his mother, who he had been fond of, he “never once mentioned” Harper.

Sky News has contacted Lee’s lawyer and the executor of her estate, Tonya Carter, for comment.

The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories and Essays, by Harper Lee is on sale from Tuesday

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No more investigations into ‘non-crime hate incidents’ after Linehan case, Met Police says

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No more investigations into 'non-crime hate incidents' after Linehan case, Met Police says

Metropolitan Police is to stop investigating “non-crime hate incidents” to “reduce ambiguity” after prosecutors dropped a case against Graham Linehan.

Linehan, 57, will face no further action after being arrested over his social media posts about transgender people.

The Father Ted and IT Crowd creator said his lawyers had been told the case wouldn’t proceed. The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed the move.

Linehan, 57, was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence when he landed at Heathrow from his home in the US on 1 September.

The incident drew criticism of the police and government from some politicians and free-speech campaigners.

Met Police said today it would stop investigating “non-crime hate incidents” to “reduce ambiguity” and “provide clearer direction for officers”.

Posting on X, Linehan announced : “After a successful hearing to get my bail conditions lifted (one which the police officer in charge of the case didn’t even bother to attend) the Crown Prosecution Service has dropped the case.

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“With the aid of the Free Speech Union, I still aim to hold the police accountable for what is only the latest attempt to silence and suppress gender critical voices on behalf of dangerous and disturbed men.”

The union said it had hired a “top flight team of lawyers to sue the Met for wrongful arrest, among other things”.

“The police need to be taught a lesson that they cannot allow themselves to be continually manipulated by woke activists,” it added.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson confirmed it had reviewed the case file and decided “no further action” would be taken.

Linehan said he had to be taken to hospital on the day of his arrest. Pic: PA
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Linehan said he had to be taken to hospital on the day of his arrest. Pic: PA

In one of his posts, Linehan wrote: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”

Another was a photo of a trans-rights protest, with the comment “a photo you can smell”, and a follow-up post saying: “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.”

A Met Police statement after the case was dropped acknowledged “concern” around Linehan’s arrest.

It added: “The commissioner has been clear he doesn’t believe officers should be policing toxic culture war debates, with current laws and rules on inciting violence online leaving them in an impossible position.

“As a result, the Met will no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents.

“We believe this will provide clearer direction for officers, reduce ambiguity and enable them to focus on matters that meet the threshold for criminal investigations.”

Linehan said on his blog that his was arrested by five armed officers and had to go to A&E after his blood pressure reached “stroke territory” during his interrogation.

Police said the officers’ guns were never drawn and were only present as Linehan was detained by the aviation unit, which routinely carries firearms.

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Farage likens UK to North Korea in Congress

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Linehan: Satire ‘dying’ and Father Ted wouldn’t be made today
What you can’t say online

JK Rowling, who’s regularly shared her views on women’s rights in relation to transgender rights, was among those who had criticised the arrest, calling it “utterly deplorable”.

Reform’s Nigel Farage, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, and ex-foreign secretary Sir James Cleverly also hit out at the treatment of Linehan.

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