Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Wales attended the British Academy Film Awards in London on Sunday night.
Prince William, wearing a burgundy velvet jacket and black tie, and Duchess Kate Middleton, wearing a floor-length pink Gucci dress, walked the red carpet but did not stop to speak to the press on their way to the Royal Festival Hall.
Inside the building, they stopped and spoke to senior organizers of the event, including the CEO of London’s Southbank Centre, home to the Royal Festival Hall where the ceremony took place. William was caught on camera talking about some of the nominees, saying: “I thought ‘F1’ was a great movie, mainly because of the music. Leo and I had seen ‘One Battle After Another’ and I thought it was very good.”
But he admitted that the reason he hadn’t seen Hamnet, considered one of the British hits of this year’s awards season, was because he wasn’t prepared enough. “We need to be pretty calm and that’s not the case at the moment,” he said. “I’ll save it.”
Prince William is BAFTA chairman, but it was unclear whether he would attend the star-studded event on Sunday night, given the drama currently roiling the family. Unlike previous years, BAFTA gave no hint as to whether attendees, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Hudson and Chloe Zhao, should expect to see a second in line to the throne at the ceremony.
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The couple did not attend last year. In 2024, William attended an event alone as his wife was recovering from abdominal surgery, which was later found to be related to cancer. The last time she participated was in 2023.
Their presence this year is a sign that it’s business as usual in the British royal family, despite Prince William’s uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor being arrested last week on charges of misconduct in office.
Hours after Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, senior members of the royal family made pre-scheduled public appearances, including King Charles II at London Fashion Week and his sister Princess Anne at Leeds Men’s Prison.
If convicted, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as the Duke of York (until he was stripped of his title last year), could face life in prison.
According to reports, the awards ceremony is expected to go ahead without a hitch this year as The Traitors host Alan Cumming will be in attendance, but there are concerns whether jokes or comments about the disgraced royal family will be made on stage during the ceremony. At the 2020 BAFTAs, host Rebel Wilson joked about both Prince Harry and Andrew as Prince William and Duchess Kate sat in the front row of the audience. “Royal Andrew, no, Royal Harry, no, I’m sorry, Royal Philly, no, the Royal Palace, I’m so happy to be here…” she stammered jokingly at the start of the ceremony, which came almost two months after Mountbatten-Windsor’s disastrous Newsnight interview and just weeks after William’s brother Harry and his wife Meghan announced they were taking a step back from royal duties.
Mr Cumming, who returned his royal honor for activism in 2023, saying it was prompted by the Queen’s death and the subsequent “debate about the role of the monarchy”, would not want to embarrass either BAFTA royal couple by mentioning the scandal in his monologue. He previously hosted the 2025 BAFTA Television Awards.
Prince William has been chairman of the BAFTAs since 2010.
