Sir Jackie Stewart has revealed how he helped Steven Spielberg get permission to film an Indiana Jones movie at a famous location.

The triple Formula One world champion said he put the director in touch with the king of Jordan – who helped him film in Petra.

Spielberg was desperate to get permission to shoot the finale of 1989 hit Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade at the famous archaeological site but had been denied permission.

Sir Jackie, 81, revealed the anecdote to Princess Anne during a video call to raise awareness about his Race Against Dementia charity.

He said Spielberg and the film’s stars, Harrison Ford and Sir Sean Connery, were taking part in a charity clay pigeon shooting event he organised at Gleneagles.

Sir Jackie said Spielberg appeared distracted as they chatted: “He starts looking over my shoulder and I’m thinking, ‘what have I done to deserve this?’

“And suddenly he says ‘excuse me, but that looks like King Hussein of Jordan over there’, and I said ‘yes, that’s who it is’.

Spielberg explained his dilemma, with Sir Jackie playing matchmaker to get the problem sorted.

He told Princess Anne: “I said ‘maybe you should speak to his majesty’, so I got them together – bingo – he got his permission and he was a very happy chappie.”

The Treasury, one of Petra’s most well known sites, ended up depicting the temple housing the Holy Grail in famous scenes from the film.

Anne and Sir Jackie have been close friends for many years and his wife Lady Helen, 77, is godmother to Zara Tindall, the princess’ daughter.

It was Lady Helen’s diagnosis with dementia six years ago that led her husband to launch his charity.

It aims to use the technologies, innovation and problem-solving ethos of Formula One to research the condition.

It has already raised millions to fund a network of researchers who are taking the advances from McLaren F1, Red Bull Racing and Dyson into their work towards greater understanding of the disease.

Princess Anne’s talk with Sir Jackie was part of Memories – a series of conversations to support the charity.

In the coming months he will be featured with Prince Albert of Monaco, tennis legend Rod Laver, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Speaking after the video call, Sir Jackie said: “I have been fortunate to have a wonderful career and my wife Helen was by my side through it all.

“We should have been able to share those memories forever but dementia steals that away.

“Without urgent progress, one in three people born today, will go on to suffer dementia and that is unacceptable.

“I passionately believe that the way Formula One uses advanced technologies and innovative thinking to achieve remarkable developments at speed, can help scientists to create a real and much-needed breakthrough in dementia research.”

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