Prince William’s BAFTA Night events revealed
Prince William may have attended the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards alone, but thoughts of his wife, Kate Middleton, were not far from his mind. As the President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts since 2010, the Prince of Wales walked the red carpet solo at the 77th BAFTAs held at the Royal Festival Hall in London. This was in light of the Princess of Wales continuing her recovery from abdominal surgery last month. Despite her absence, Prince William ensured that her love for the U.K.’s biggest movie awards was acknowledged.
🎥✨ Always a pleasure to join the best of the film industry at The @BAFTA Awards. Congratulations to all of this evening’s nominees and winners! #EEBAFTAs pic.twitter.com/whsE3WM3hD
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) February 18, 2024
During the event, Prince William spoke with Elaine Bedell, the chief executive of the Southbank Centre, and expressed apologies for Catherine’s absence at this year’s awards. He said, “I’m sorry Catherine’s not here. She does love the BAFTAs.” To this, Bedell replied, “I remember last year about the films that you’d watched,”. The discussion went a bit further, and William shared, “All the ones I watch, she watches with me. So we go through it carefully.”
However, Princess Kate’s recent abdominal surgery and subsequent recovery had temporarily put their movie nights on hold. Prince William admitted that he had watched “the fewest I’ve ever done before” from this year’s nominees, citing a busy schedule and a lot on his mind. Despite this, he expressed optimism about catching up and joked about making a list of what to watch at the event.
Among the films he managed to see before the BAFTAs was “Oppenheimer,” which won awards for Best Film and Best Director. Prince William, a fan of Christopher Nolan, expressed his pleasure if Nolan won and mentioned his enjoyment of “Oppenheimer.” However, he admitted not having watched “Barbie” yet but expressed interest in doing so.
Princess Kate typically accompanies her husband to the BAFTAs, as seen in their red carpet appearance the previous year when they made their debut as the Prince and Princess of Wales. Their attendance at the 2023 BAFTAs marked their first appearance at the ceremony in two years, with Prince William having withdrawn in 2021 following Prince Philip’s death and both William and Kate missing the 2022 ceremony due to scheduling constraints.
Prince William’s appearance at the BAFTAs followed a week off from royal duties to care for Princess Kate and their three children during the kids’ half-term vacation. Although Kate left the hospital on Jan. 29, she continues her recovery at home and is not expected to return to public royal duties until at least Easter. Prince William’s return to public duties on Feb. 7 marked his first appearance since the revelation of his father King Charles’ cancer diagnosis on Feb. 5, following a period of focusing on Princess Kate’s recovery out of the public eye.
