Bond and Tracy in Lisbon - Palácio Fronteira, part 2

In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, as Bond and Tracy are spending time together in Portugal, a few various sights in and around Lisbon are pictured. One of the first love scenes with Bond and Tracy
was filmed at the Palácio dos Marqueses de Fronteira just outside of Lisbon.

Bond and Tracy are first walking past the large fountain in the middle of the garden and then continue to the right, walking past a smaller, octagonal fountain where Tracy throws a flower in the water.

The two fountains are actually not located on the same path

The Palace of the Marquesses of Fronteira was built between 1671 and 1672 as a hunting pavilion to Dom João de Mascarenhas, 1st Marquis of Fronteira and is currently owned by the 12th Marquis de Fronteira who also disposes of the house. However, some of the rooms including the library, and the garden, can be visited during opening hours.

Bond is wearing the same double breasted blazer that he wears at M's house later

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In an adjacent part of the garden, to the left when facing the palace, is the smaller fountain located where Bond and Tracy are sitting down in an earlier scene. Tracy is holding a cat and Bond is wearing a black tie. This post is covered here.

This scene is supposed to take place in a different park at another time, given their change of clothes, but is consequently filmed at the same location, just a different part of the garden. The Palácio dos Marqueses de Fronteira is a must visit when in Lisbon, primarily because the location has been nearly untouched since 1969.

Bond and Tracy in Lisbon - Palácio Fronteira

As it is Christmas, I'd thought it appropriate to share one of the locations from On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the only Bond film where Christmas is celebrated and features rather prominently, even with Blofeld wishing 007 a merry Christmas. The film also features a Christmas song, especially written for the film by the composer John Barry.

In the film, Bond falls in love with Teresa di Vicenzo, the daughter of an Italian gangster. They share a few romantic moments together in Lisbon early in the film. A few scenes were filmed in what appears to be a park, first with Bond wearing a black tie, and later, with him in a double breasted blazer. Both these scenes were filmed in the same location, namely in the 5.5 hectare large garden of Palácio dos Marqueses de Fronteira, just outside central Lisbon.

During these scenes Tracy falls in love with Bond and ultimately marries him, which would prove to be fatal. The scene with Bond and Tracy petting the cat by the fountain was filmed in the smaller garden which is located on the back of the palace (south of the building) and the next scene with Bond and Tracy walking by another fountain, this time in different clothes, was filmed in the lower main garden. These scenes will be covered next year.

Palácio dos Marqueses de Fronteira and the main garden

The palace is still the private residence of the Marquesses of Fronteira but is sometimes open to the public. Check dates and time before going there.

The main garden - located east of the palace building

The Palace of the Marquesses of Fronteira was built between 1671 and 1672 as a hunting pavilion to Dom João de Mascarenhas, 1st Marquis of Fronteira, who had received his title from King Afonso VI of Portugal.

This is the smaller garden where the first scenes were filmed. Bond and Tracy are coming towards the fountain (from the house) and are heading east (to the right) before Tracy sits down by the fountain.

Some steps lead down to the large lower main garden from this smaller garden where the scene with Bond and Tracy were filmed.

The palace garden is magnificent and a location that must be visited. It has not changed notably since 1969 and the spots are very recognizable. In addition to the the two scenes with Bond and Tracy, a few publicity stills were also shot at this location, primarily the picture below, featuring George Lazenby standing on a stone staircase surrounding a pond. 

As the year is coming to an end, we note that it has indeed been a sad year for the Bond series as we lost Sir Roger Moore on 23 May and we also note the passing of Karin Dor, who played the Spectre villain Helga Brandt in You only live twice on 6 November.

One can only wish that Draco's words from On Her Majesty's Secret Service will be true for 2018.

"The best years are still to come, let's hope"  

I wish you all a very 

Merry Christmas, 

and a happy new 2018!

Ta ta,
J

Draco's estate - Herdado do Zambujal

On Her Majesty's Secret Service was filmed mainly in Portugal and Switzerland with a few of the very key sequences filmed in and around an estate called Herdado do Zambujal, a two hour drive outside of Lisbon. It is here that Bond and Tracy fall in love and ultimately celebrate their wedding at the end of the film.

The house is only seen briefly in the beginning of the film as Tracy arrives to Draco's birthday party. However, the exterior features more prominently during the wedding scenes. The wedding reception and the following party take place in front of Draco's house on the courtyard.

As Bond and Tracy drive away, Miss Moneypenny cries by the fountain in front of the house. She is however soon interrupted by M and Q.

"Ah, 007 never had any respect for government property!"

Several scenes, including Draco's birthday at the bull ring was filmed on and around this magnificent estate and much more will be covered from this classic and stunning location, given time. 

The Palacio Estoril Hotel - Portugal

In On Her Majesty's Secret Service from 1969, Bond is taking a few days off from his current assignment to track down Blofeld, an operation called Bedlam. Mi6 has no information about Bond's whereabouts and Moneypenny is searching for him through their contacts in Amsterdam, Madrid and Cairo, all with negative replies. In reality, Bond is holidaying in Portugal.

Bond is staying at the Palácio Hotel in Estoril on the Portuguese riviera, a short 30 minute drive from central Lisbon. Located in Cascais, one of the richest municipalities in Portugal, the five star Palácio Hotel is still one of the finest on the coast. It was built in 1930 and it is located only a five minute walk from the famous Casino Estoril, the casino which sign supposedly is reflecting in the hotel swimming pool in the film.    

             "-Your baggage sir? 
-In the boot. Take care of those clubs."

During the Second World War Portugal was neutral, which resulted in several royal families went into exile in Estoril, leading to the Portuguese Riviera around Estoril becoming known as the "Coast of Kings". The Hotel Palácio became the hotel of choice of numerous members of European royalty as well as both British and German spies and military personnel.

Visible in the film are several signs from various automobile clubs in Europe, including the Automovel Clube de Portugal, the Automobilclub von Deutschland and the Royal Swedish Automobile Club - Kungliga Automobil Klubben. These same signs can still be found on location on either side of the magnificent entrance to the hotel, as seen in the film.

The signs of Automovel Clube de Portugal ACP (below), the Automobilclub von Deutschland AvD, the Royal Swedish Automobile Club, KAK (Kungliga Automobil Klubben) and the Automobile Club d'Italia (above left) as well as the Automobile Club de France (above right) are all seen in the film and can still be found on location today.

In the film, the hotel is probably supposed to be located in France, given that the corresponding scenes from the novel unfolds in a fictive village called Royale-les-Eaux, a seaside resort close to Le Touquet on the Atlantic coast north of Paris. Furthermore, at the Baccarat table in the casino, Francs is used rather than the Portuguese escudo, which was the currency before the Euro in Portugal. However, the location of the hotel is somewhat unclear, since the hotel manager is named Manuel and it is obvious that he does not speak French to the bellboy in the hotel. 

From a Bond perspective, this is definitely one of the coolest hotels you can stay at, together with for instance the Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary or the Peninsula in Hong Kong.

Read more about the hotel's history or make reservations on the hotel website here.