Trivia: Before Patrick Macnee's John Steed became the face of The Avengers, the show's original lead was Ian Hendry as Dr. David Keel. Hendry also appeared in Casino Royale (1967), but nearly all his scenes were cut. His only surviving moment is as the corpse Vesper throws down the chute. It's a meta gag: the original Avengers star literally discarded in a Bond spoof. The Avengers debuted over a year before Dr. No, kicking off the 60s spy craze.
Continuity mistake: While Sir James and Hadley are standing beside the map, Bond asks about his namesake. When Hadley provides an update, in the shot facing Hadley he's holding up the mini flag with his left hand, but in the next shot facing Bond the mini flag is being held up in Hadley's right hand. (00:38:35)
Answer: Given that this is a comedy, the thinking was probably "Well, we'll just blow up your retirement so you've got no choice but to come out of it."
Captain Defenestrator