Chippenham schoolboy gets to Bond with the stars (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Chippenham schoolboy gets to Bond with the stars

9:00am Friday 2nd November 2012 in News By Fuchsia Singleton-Hoare

Chippenham schoolboy Callum Liquorish is the envy of all his friends after socialising with royals and the stars of the new James Bond film Skyfall at its official British premiere.

Callum and his mum Debbie Bishop had the chance to attend the glittering, red carpet event after his soldier father Sergeant Matthew Liquorish won one of 50 sets of tickets provided by the forces charity Tickets for Troops.

And nine-year-old Callum was also chosen by the charity to present the Prince of Wales with a film brochure at the event, on Tuesday last week.

Callum, a pupil at King’s Lodge School, Pewsham, said: “It was so brilliant, I can’t believe I gave the programme to Prince Charles.

“I got loads of autographs, Daniel Craig was my favourite – my friends at school are jealous.

“My mum dressed me like Gary Barlow with a waistcoat and tie and smart trousers.”

Sgt Liquorish, who is in the Royal Logistics regiment at Buckley Barracks, and has served in the Falklands, Bosnia and Iraq, applied for the tickets and the family found out they had won a week before the premiere.

Miss Bishop said: “I got a phone call saying we’d won tickets and at first I thought it was a hoax. Matt had applied for them and I couldn’t believe it. I called him and told him to sit down before I gave him the news.”

Before heading down the red carpet, servicemen and women attended a Tickets for Troops drinks reception at the Royal College of Art where Callum got to meet Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who is a patron of the charity.

The party then headed to the Royal Albert Hall for the premiere.

Miss Bishop said: “We walked along the red carpet and then met the cast members.

“We went in and saw all their names along the floor and then they came in one by one – it was incredible.”

Also chosen to make a royal presentation was the daughter of another serviceman, Ella-Louisa Brown, who attended with her parents, and presented Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, with a posey of flowers.

Tickets for Troops has distributed nearly 300,000 tickets to members of the forces over the past three years for major events including the Olympics and Paralympics, international football, horse racing, rugby, tennis, West End theatre events and concerts.

Its chairman Lord Marland said: “We feel very privileged to be working with such an iconic and appropriate brand as James Bond in supporting members of the Armed Forces. This is one of the greatest events of the year.”