Sir Sean Connery is licenced to kilt in New York (pictures)

Sir Sean Connery stepped out in public today for the first time since having surgery to remove a tumour from his kidney and declared: "I'm feeling very well." The former James Bond star appeared a little frail but was in high spirits at a glitzy event celebrating Scottish fashion as part of New York's annual Tartan Week - reports the Daily Mail.

And he revealed he was poised to become the first celebrity name to sign up for membership of billionaire businessman Donald Trump's planned £300million golf development in Aberdeenshire.

Sir Sean, 75, appeared to put a reported rift between him and Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell behind him, sitting next to the politician before the catwalk show - although he did move back a row and let his wife Micheline take over later on.

In February the 007 star, a staunch Scottish Nationalist Party supporter, was said to have branded the Scottish Executive's attempts to promote Scotland overseas a "joke".

It was even reported that he would not be involved with this year's Tartan Week, the US-based celebrations of all things Scottish, but he was the star of the show at the Dressed to Kilt event.

Sir Sean was mobbed by photographers and reporters as he arrived at the Synod House at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in Manhattan, just weeks after it was revealed he had undergone an operation involving five incisions to remove the tumour - understood to have been benign.

In a playful mood, he let Micheline hitch up his kilt to reveal a flash of leg, before predicting a "chaotic" night.

"My wife was here last year and we're still settling the lawsuit," he joked, before asking an American TV reporter who seemed nonplussed by the comment whether he spoke English.

The Edinburgh-born actor grinned in the balcony as a host of Scottish stars, including actor Brian Cox and golfer Sam Torrance, made their way down the catwalk modelling some flamboyant tartan fashions.

On stage he told the audience he was thrilled to be there, adding: "I don't want you to pay too much attention to what you've witnessed - my wife doesn't always rip the shirt off the guy she's dancing with.

"That's how, initially, we were courting, it was a ritual we learnt in the South Seas, but it wasn't the shirts, it was the knickers."



Sean Connery (R), Donald Trump (L) and Scotland's First Minister Jack McConnell laugh during the 'Dressed to Kilt' fashion show in New York April 3, 2006. The show was part of the annual Tartan Week which celebrates Scottish heritage and culture.



Connery and his wife Micheline pose at the 'Dressed to Kilt' fashion show.























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