Prince William attended the BAFTAs without his wife, Kate, who was recovering from surgery. During the event, he revealed that he had watched fewer films lately due to the circumstances. The news of Kate’s surgery left many feeling saddened, but Prince William remained strong and hopeful for her speedy recovery
The Prince of Wales revealed that he has watched fewer films ahead of the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) this year as his wife recovers from major abdominal surgery.
Prince William, 41, apologised to Elaine Bedell, chief executive of the Southbank centre for his “last minute” decision to attend the ceremony alone amid the health scares in his family
he biographical thriller about the father of the nuclear bomb – which William said he “loved” – marks a crowning achievement for British filmmaker Nolan, who has never won a directing Bafta.
The Prince added that he hasn’t watched Barbie yet, but he wants to, telling Ms Bedell that there were “lots of opinionated fans outside” the Royal Festival Hall venue.
The Princess of Wales, who usually attends the star-studded ceremony with her husband, has been convalescing at the couple’s home in Windsor following major abdominal surgery last month.
He told Bafta executives that she was sorry not to be attending with him this year, saying: “She does love the BAFTAs”The Prince also hailed all the “good British films and good female directors” that have been nominated this year
Speaking with the Bafta, Southbank and BBC executives ahead of the ceremony, Prince William also revealed that there was “more coming” after he was congratulated on the announcement of the first Duchy of Cornwall housing project to tackle homelessness.
It was revealed by The Sunday Times the Prince will forge ahead with a £3 million social housing plan of 24 new homes for the Cornwall estate in the next year.
After the ceremony, Prince William met with the EE Rising Star Award nominees, as well as winner Mia Mckenna-Bruce, and the directors and producers for The Zone of Interest and Earth Mama.
Speaking to the young nominees, all of whom were there except for Saltburn’s Jacob Elordi who is filming in Australia, William said: “Honestly, the category was so strong with all of you.
“It was like who’s going to pull this off, it’s incredible, it was very close between all of you.
He told How to Have Sex star McKenna-Bruce, 26, that he hasn’t yet watched her film, but added that it looked like “a lot of fun” to film.
“It was a really really good time,” she told him, adding: “I’d recommend watching it but I don’t want to be biased.”
He responded: “I have a lot of films to catch up on tonight, normally I get quite ahead and I get to see quite a few of them but I haven’t managed to get that many through, so I’ve got a list today.
“It’s incredible, it’s a really really strong year for categories, there is so much on offer.
Speaking to director Jonathan Glazer and producer James Wilson about their Holocaust film The Zone of Interest, Prince William said: “It’s so important that you tell the story for the next generation, I always worry that every new generation that comes along needs to hear these stories about what actually happened.”
He added that the film, about a Nazi commander and his life outside of the Auschwitz concentration camp, was on his watchlist, but that it would have to be on a night when he was “feeling uplifted”.
Wilson said they had filmed the entire movie in the “real place”, right outside of Auschwitz, and that they had worked very closely with the Holocaust Memorial there.
