Why Are Prince William And Kate Middleton At The BAFTA Film Awards?

Prince William and Kate Middleton don’t often walk the red carpet, but they make an exception for the BAFTA Film Awards. The two have a very good reason for heading to the British Academy Awards, though.

Since 2010, Prince William has been the president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. BAFTA is a charity, one of many that are supported by the royal family. The Duke of Edinburgh was also once the president several decades ago.

Due to his position with the organization, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sometimes attend the awards ceremony and various charity events it holds. William even presents awards on occasion. He’ll give the BAFTA Fellowship award to film editor Thelma Schoonmaker this year. Schoonmaker has worked on “Raging Bull,” “Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Departed” and more.

This year, Kate is unlikely to make as many headlines as she did in 2018. Last year, the Duchess wore a green dress with a black belt to avoid getting too political. With the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements just getting started, attendees were encouraged to wear all black. The royals, however, are not supposed to disclose their political beliefs. Many speculated that the black belt was a nod to the cause, though.

This year, Kate stunned in a white one-shoulder dress with a pretty up-do. William stuck to tradition with his black tux.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry did not make an appearance at the BAFTAs. As previously reported, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not invited because they have no connection to the organization. Instead, Meghan is keeping her interest in the arts alive by taking over for the Queen and making the National Theatre one of her first royal patronages.

The BAFTAs can be watched in the U.S. on Sunday at 9 p.m. EST on BBC America.