The Loves Of James Bond

As a jet-setting secret agent, James Bond has been surrounded by women, some fleeting dalliances, others more lasting. To mark Valentine’s Day, let’s take a look at the complex, compelling relationships of 007: his first true love, the mother of his child, and the woman he married.

Tracy di Vicenzo

Played by: Diana Rigg

As seen in: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

The Back Story: Contessa Teresa ‘Tracy’ di Vicenzo is the only daughter of Marc Ange Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti), the head of Europe’s biggest crime syndicate, Union Corse. Perhaps as an act of rebellion against her father’s wealth and status, Tracy lived life in the fast lane, causing her father to withdraw her allowance. An ill-fated marriage gave her the title of Countess. She prefers the name Tracy to Teresa, saying, “I am not a saint.”

The Love Story: Bond (George Lazenby) first meets Tracy at her lowest ebb, saving her from attempted suicide, wading into the sea in Portugal. Tracy speeds away in her Red Cougar but Bond catches up with her at Hotel Palacio Estoril’s casino, where he bails her out of a bad bet. Bond returns to his suite to be held at gunpoint by Tracy with his own Walther PPK. Bond disarms and seduces her but, in the morning, Tracy leaves Bond in bed, repaying her gambling debt in full. 

The act of saving Tracy’s life puts 007 on the radar of Draco, who kidnaps Bond and offers him information on SPECTRE leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas) in return for marrying his daughter. Still, Bond starts courting Tracy. Once Tracy learns of 007’s arrangement with her father, she breaks off the relationship, heartbroken. Bond reveals that his feelings were sincere, and the pair slowly fall in love.

The Height of Passion: Tracking Bond down in Switzerland, Tracy helps 007 escape in a frantic car chase on ice. The couple takes refuge from a blizzard in a remote barn, where Bond not only professes his love for Tracy but proposes marriage. She accepts.

Love Language: “I love you. I know I’ll never find another woman like you. Will you marry me?”

The Long Goodbye: Having defeated Blofeld at Piz Gloria, Bond and Tracy marry at Draco’s estate. The pair set off on honeymoon in 007’s Aston Martin festooned with flowers. As Bond pulls over to remove the garlands, Blofeld and his number two, Irma Blunt (Ilse Steppat), pull up and shower the car with bullets. Tracy is killed, leaving a bereft, disbelieving Bond to mutter, “We have all the time in the world.”

Vesper Lynd

Played by: Eva Green

As seen in: Casino Royale 

The Back Story: Vesper Lynd works for the Financial Action Task Force of Her Majesty’s Treasury and has a deep understanding of illicit banking practices. Unknown to Bond (Daniel Craig), Vesper was in a clandestine relationship with French-Algerian QUANTUM operative Yusef Kabira (Simon Kassianides), who had been held hostage by his bosses, forcing Vesper to betray 007.

The Love Story: Bond first meets Vesper in a dining car on a train bound for Montenegro, their smart, flirtatious banter signalling an instant attraction. She has been assigned to bankroll 007 in a high-stakes game of Texas Hold ‘Em at Casino Royale, with the aim of engaging Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker who finances international terrorism.

As the game begins at Casino Royale, Vesper reluctantly poses as Bond’s trophy girlfriend and refuses to stake him in the game as he begins to lose money. She aids Bond in a titanic struggle with Ugandan Warlord Steven Obanno (Isaach de Bankolé) but the tussle leaves her shaken, Bond comforting her later in their hotel shower, both fully clothed, a moment of intimacy that draws the pair closer together. 

She then saves Bond’s life after he drinks a drugged shaken-not-stirred vodka martini (a drink Bond dubs a Vesper) by plugging in a defibrillator that saves his life at the last moment. After winning the poker game, Bond chases after a kidnapped Vesper, swerving to miss her in his Aston Martin as she is left tied-up in the middle of the road.

The Height of Passion: While recuperating in hospital, Bond and Vesper admit their love for each other, causing Bond to resign and head for a romantic break in Venice. 

Love Language: “I have no armour left. You’ve stripped it from me. Whatever is left of me – whatever is left of me – whatever I am – I’m yours.” 

The Long Goodbye: After Vesper embezzles the Casino Royale winnings to save Kabira, Bond gives chase to try to stop her from handing over the money. Vesper is thrown in an elevator and, as the antiquated Venetian building begins to sink in the melee, locks herself in. Bond does his best to save her, finally getting her out of the sunken lift but unable to revive her through CPR.

As a final act of love, Vesper leaves her phone for Bond to discover a vital clue to infiltrating QUANTUM. It also starts a trail that leads him to the next and possibly biggest love of 007’s life.

Madeleine Swann

Played by: Léa Seydoux

As seen in: Spectre, No Time To Die

The Back Story: The daughter of high-ranking SPECTRE member Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), Madeleine renounced her father and his lifestyle, going into hiding, working for Médecins Sans Frontières, and then as a psychiatrist at the Hoffler Klinik near Sölden in the Austrian Alps. A traumatic event in her childhood — being attacked by terrorist Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who murdered her mother — gave her a lifelong fear and hatred of violence and weapons.

The Love Story: Following the suicide of Mr. White, Bond seeks out Madeleine at the Hoffler Klinik. She leads him to the L’Americain Hotel in Morocco, where White has left a secret stash of information that leads them to the nerve centre of SPECTRE and Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) in the middle of the desert. With the help of an exploding watch, Bond and Madeleine escape, destroying SPECTRE HQ and head to London. Madeleine is kidnapped by SPECTRE but Bond rescues her, the pair escaping by speedboat, then taking down Blofeld in a helicopter. The following morning, Bond and Madeleine leave in 007’s Aston Martin for a new life.

In No Time To Die, Bond and Madeleine are travelling through Matera, Italy. The couple comes under attack from SPECTRE, Bond believing Madeleine has set him up. He sends her away by train, unaware she is carrying his child. Swann comes back into 007’s orbit five years later when, under the orders of Safin, she is instructed to kill Blofeld via nanotech biological weapon, Heracles, while he is imprisoned at Belmarsh prison. Her hand inadvertently touches Bond’s, transferring the Heracles virus to 007, who kills Blofeld but not before the agent learns Madeleine didn’t betray him in Matera.

The Height of Passion: Bond tracks Madeleine to her home in Norway — the site of her childhood run-in with Safin — and the pair begin to open up (Madeleine: “I understand you’re not built to trust people”; Bond: “Neither are you.”) As they move in for a kiss, they are interrupted by Swann’s five-year-old daughter Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet), Madeleine denying the child is Bond’s. The makeshift family unit is interrupted by Safin’s henchman. After a furious car chase, Bond hides Madeleine and Mathilde but they are captured by Safin.

Love Language: “We have all the time in the world.”

The Long Goodbye: Madeleine and Matilda are taken to Safin’s hideout on Poison Island, where Bond mounts a rescue mission and kills Safin, opening the island’s missile silos allowing the warship HMS Dragon to destroy the island. In a heart-breaking farewell, Bond radios Madeleine, who has been escorted off the island by Nomi (Lashana Lynch), to say goodbye and declare his love for her and Mathilde. Bond dies as the missiles strike the island but not before Madeleine confirms that Mathilde is his daughter, Bond admitting he knew all along.

Later, Madeleine drives Matilda to Matera, telling her daughter. “I’m going to tell you a story about a man. His name was Bond, James Bond.”