The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived on the red carpet at the Royal Albert Hall ahead of the BAFTA Awards.
Prince William is President of BAFTA and, along with the Duchess of Cambridge, has attended several of the film award ceremonies in recent years.
At this year’s awards, Olivia Colman is a frontrunner to take home the Best Actress prize for her portrayal of Queen Anne in ‘The Favourite’. The film leads the field with twelve nominations in total.
‘The Favourite’ has become one of the darlings of this year’s film award season and its dozen nods at the BAFTAs include both Best Picture and Outstanding British Film. There are also nominations in the category for Best Original Screenplay while Yorgos Lanthimos is up for Best Director.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arriving at the BAFTA Awards (BBC fair use)
Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, who play the scheming cousins fighting each other for influence over Queen Anne in the film, are both nominated for Best Supporting Actress where they find themselves with royal opposition as Margot Robbie is also up for that prize for her portrayal of Elizabeth I in ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’. That royal story brought to life for the big screen has two other nominations, in costume and hair and make up design, with ‘The Favourite’ also up for prizes in the same categories.
BAFTA has had a long-standing connection with the Royal Family since its foundation. In 1959, The Duke of Edinburgh became the organisation’s first President before handing the reins over to his uncle, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, in 1966. It was the Earl who designed the conversion system to turn all the projectors aboard King George’s ships to take ‘talkies’ after the silent film era.
The Princess Royal succeeded Earl Mountbatten in 1972, a year after she presented the first ever Fellowship Award to Alfred Hitchcock. She also presented the first bronze mask to Sir Charles Chaplin in 1976, the year that the Society of Film and Television Arts (SFTA) was renamed BAFTA. In her honour, the main theatre at BAFTAs London Headquarters, 195 Piccadilly, was named The Princess Anne Theatre.
