The Prince and Princess of Wales made their first public appearance together since the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor when they arrived at the Bafta film awards.
William will present the Bafta fellowship to Dame Donna Langley, chair of NBC Universal Entertainment and one of the movie world’s most powerful executives, during the ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
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There were concerns within the academy that the event’s host, Alan Cumming, who returned his OBE three years ago citing the “toxicity of empire”, might make jokes at the expense of the royal family at the ceremony, three days after Andrew’s arrest. Andrew has previously denied all wrongdoing.
Alan Cumming
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The delayed transmission of the event would allow, however, for jokes to be edited out of the BBC broadcast.
William, who became Bafta’s fifth president in 2010, has previously used the platform to criticise the film industry.
His speech in 2020 called for more “diversity in the sector and in the awards process”. That year, the film academy began tinkering with the nominations process in the hope of engineering more diversity in categories such as best director.
In 2021 the Prince William Bafta Bursary was launched to “assist young people from underrepresented groups” in their career progressions.
The prince and princess are due to watch to the first live performance outside the United States from the singing stars of the hit film K Pop Demon Hunters, as well as a performance from the British singer Jessie Ware during the In Memoriam segment of the ceremony.
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Stars expected at the ceremony include Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet, as well as Paddington Bear, who is due to present the award for best children and family film.
Leonardo DiCaprio starred in One Battle After Another, while Timothée played the title role in Marty Supreme, below
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Glenn Close, Stormzy and Bryan Cranston are also expected to present prizes.
The frontrunners for awards are One Battle After Another, starring DiCaprio, which has 14 nominations and Sinners, with 13, followed by Hamnet and Marty Supreme, starring Chalamet, with 11 each.
Jessie Buckley in a scene from Hamnet
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DiCaprio and Chalamet are vying with the British actor Robert Aramayo, the star of the low-budget British film I Swear, Ethan Hawke, Michael B Jordan and Jesse Plemons for the leading actor award.
Robert Aramayo in I Swear
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Margaret Qualley and Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon
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Sinners stars Michael B Jordan, centre
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Jessie Buckley, who plays William Shakespeare’s wife in the adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet, is the clear favourite for leading actress.