Fans of Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton were really disappointed to learn that the royal couple will not be present at the upcoming BAFTA Awards ceremony.
Everyone was expecting to see William and Kate dazzle on the red carpet, especially since this event marked Kate’s return to these prestigious awards after her battle with cancer, a topic we have already covered here at RoyalFamily.news.
Kensington Palace confirmed on February 10 that the Prince and Princess of Wales will not attend the ceremony to be held on Sunday, February 16.
Although Prince William, president of the British Academy of Film and Television since 2010, will appear in a video as part of the awards and will visit the London Film Academy on Wednesday.
William is a regular on the red carpet at this annual ceremony and is usually accompanied by his wife. In fact, the last time the couple attended together was in 2023.
Why won’t Prince William and Kate Middleton be at the BAFTAs?
According to Kate Mansey, royal editor of The Times UK, the reason is that the ceremony coincides with their children’s school vacations.
“It falls on the first weekend of the half-term school holidays,” Mansey tweeted.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the couple has missed the BAFTAs.
In 2021, they were unable to attend due to the passing of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who died a day before the ceremony at the age of 99.
In 2022, their absence was due to “scheduling constraints,” according to a representative who spoke to Variety at the time.
The 2025 BAFTA Awards will be hosted by David Tennant for the second year in a row. In terms of nominations, “Conclave” is the most-nominated film with 12 nominations, while “Emilia Perez,” “The Brutalist,” “Anora,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Wicked” and “A Complete Unknown” are also vying for multiple awards. It will be an exciting night, although without the presence of the royal couple.