Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales have made a glamorous return to the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), where they walked the red carpet three days after William’s uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and held by police for 11 hours over allegations he sent sensitive government information to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The scandal has rocked the royal family led by King Charles III, though William and Kate remain popular standard-bearers for the monarchy.
William is due to present an award in his role as president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
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Kate wore a flowing chiffon gown in shades of pink to the event, with a burgundy belt that matched William’s velvet tuxedo jacket.
The princess previously wore the floor-length Gucci dress to the 100 Women in Finance gala dinner held in London back in February 2019.
It’s the first time Kate has attended the BAFTAs since 2023. William attended alone in 2024 and no royals were present at last year’s ceremony, held weeks after Kate revealed she was in cancer remission.
Earlier this month, the Prince and Princess of Wales broke their silence over fresh allegations of sexual misconduct levelled at Andrew following the release of more Epstein files.
“I can confirm The Prince and Princess have been deeply concerned by the continuing revelations. Their thoughts remain focused on the victims,” a spokesperson for Kensington Palace said.
Prior to Andrew’s arrest, William spoke about his mental health in an episode of BBC Radio 1’s Life Hacks podcast.
“I take a long time trying to understand my emotions and why I feel like I do,” he said.
“And I think that’s a really important process to just do every now and again to check in with yourself and work out why you’re feeling like you do. Sometimes there’s an obvious explanation, sometimes there isn’t.”
The prince encouraged men to be open about their own mental health issues and to not be ashamed of seeking help when they need it.
“We need more male role models out there talking about it and normalising it so that it becomes something that is second nature to all of us,” he said.
“Not one person in this world has all the tools for every eventuality or mental state that is going to come across.
“I like to go around looking for new tools to put in my toolbox when I might need it and if we look at it like that, it does normalise the idea that the brain just needs sometimes a little bit of help.
“It’s OK to ask for support, ask a mate, reach out.”
Stars out in force for BAFTAs
The royals rubbed shoulders with Hollywood heavyweights and British celebrities gathered for the BAFTAS, where politically charged thriller One Battle After Another and blues-steeped epic Sinners lead the field of nominees.
Stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, Cillian Murphy, Glenn Close and Ethan Hawke were among those walking the red carpet outside London’s Royal Festival Hall before a black-tie ceremony hosted by Scottish actor Alan Cumming.
One Battle has 14 nominations, including best picture and acting nods for five of its cast. Sinners is just behind with 13, while Hamnet and the ping-pong odyssey Marty Supreme each have 11 nominations.
The British prizes, officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards, often provide hints about who will win at Hollywood’s Academy Awards, held this year on March 15. In the Oscar nominations, Sinners leads the race with a record 16 nominations, followed by One Battle After Another with 13.
– With AP
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source 7news.com.au ’
