Entertainment

Prince and Princess of Wales to attend Bafta film awards

The star-studded ceremony is being held at the Royal Festival Hall on February 19.
The star-studded ceremony is being held at the Royal Festival Hall on February 19.

The Prince and Princess of Wales will attend the upcoming Bafta film awards for the first time in three years, Kensington Palace has announced.

William, who has been the president of Bafta since 2010, and Kate will watch the ceremony being held at the Royal Festival Hall on February 19 before meeting the winners and Rising Star Award nominees.

The royal couple last attended the event in person in 2020 with the prince last year recording a video message in his place in which he congratulated those nominated and praised the work of Bafta’s programmes.

EE British Academy Film Awards 2019 – Arrivals – London
William and Kate attending the Baftas in 2019 (Ian West/PA)

Nominations for the 2023 ceremony were announced last month, with Netflix’s anti-war epic All Quiet On The Western Front leading the pack with 14 nods.

The movie, directed by German filmmaker Edward Berger and based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque, has received nods for top gongs including best film, best director and best film not in the English language.

Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees Of Inisherin and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All At Once follow closely behind with 10 nods each.

Both films have also received nominations for best film, with Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis and Todd Field’s Tar rounding off the five-strong list.

The Banshees Of Inisherin has also earned Irish actor Colin Farrell his first Bafta film nomination in the leading actor category, for his role in the black comedy-drama in which he stars alongside Brendan Gleeson.

However, Farrell will face tough competition for the leading actor award as he is joined in the category by Austin Butler for Elvis, Brendan Fraser for The Whale, Paul Mescal for Aftersun, Bill Nighy for Living and Daryl McCormack for Good Luck To You, Leo Grande.

The leading actress prize will also be hotly contested as the nominations include Cate Blanchett for Tar, Viola Davis for The Woman King, Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All At Once, Dame Emma Thompson for Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, Ana de Armas for Blonde and Danielle Deadwyler for Till.

It was announced on Thursday that Mercury Prize winner Little Simz will also perform at the event.

This year the ceremony will move to the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall from its previous location of the Royal Albert Hall, which had hosted the awards show since 2017.

Actor Richard E Grant will host the 76th annual film awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall while TV presenter Alison Hammond will helm the Bafta Studio, an immersive and access-all-areas experience, as part of the BBC One show.

The 2023 EE Bafta Film Awards will be broadcast live on BBC One on Sunday February 19 at 7pm.

For the first time the final four awards of the show will be announced live on the night, allowing audiences to experience the winners in real-time.