JULY was to end with the brilliance of Danny Boyle’s Olympics opening ceremony. But before the joie de vivre of London 2012, there was turbulence in the world of high finance.Bob Diamond resigned as chief executive of Barclays a few days after the bank’s chairman Marcus Agius fell on his sword.Tragedy visited at the beginning of the month as three RAF crew members died when two Tornado fighters crashed into the Moray Firth.It was also a difficult time for the army when a defence re-organisation saw the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders reduced to a public duties company.At Holyrood, SNP ministers said they would go to court to contest a Freedom of Information landmark ruling, which said they must publicly state if they had asked for legal advice on whether an independent Scotland could join the EU.There was controversy the day before Scotland became the first country in the UK to commit to introducing gay marriage. Fury greeted a comment by Archbishop of Glasgow Philip Tartaglia that appeared to link the premature death of David Cairns MP to his homosexuality.A golden summer of sport saw Scotland’s Andy Murray reach the Wimbledon final – the first British player to do so for 74 years. A brave attempt to win the tournament ended in tears – literally. Murray broke down after his defeat by Roger Federer. Meanwhile, Ernie Els won the golf Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes.The Rangers football saga took another turn when the Scottish Football League clubs voted for the team to start from the bottom in the lowest tier of Scottish football. The decision was taken after Rangers crashed into liquidation and was formed into a new club.In the run-up to the Olympics, Nick Buckles, the chief executive of G4S, admitted his company’s handling of Games’ security had become a “humiliating shambles”. The army was called in to provide cover after it emerged that G4S had failed to provide enough staff. But any suggestion that London would not prove to be a successful host of the world’s greatest sporting event was dispelled by a magical opening ceremony, with an eye-catching cameo from the Queen.The world gasped when the Queen turned round in her private study at Buckingham Palace and became a Bond girl.The Queen left the palace with James Bond (Daniel Craig) and clambered aboard a helicopter before appearing to parachute into the Olympic Stadium.It was the highlight of a remarkable event, titled Isles of Wonder, that celebrated the industrial revolution, the NHS, literature, pop music and culture.Opened by the Queen, it had a cast of professional performers, including Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean, who played the keyboard with the London Symphony Orchestra. Joining them were 7,500 volunteers whose enthusiasm and expertise set the tone for a spell-binding sporting summer.