Prince William at the BAFTAs on Feb. 22.Credit : Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

Prince William said he was “not” in a “calm state” on the red carpet at the 2026 BAFTAs on Sunday, Feb. 22
“I need to be in quite a calm state and I am not at the moment. I will save it,” William said while discussing the movie Hamnet, which won the Outstanding British Film award
William attended the BAFTAs with wife Kate Middleton — their first time since her cancer diagnosis — three days after his uncle, the former Prince Andrew, was arrested on Feb. 19

Prince William is not in a “calm state” at the moment, he revealed while explaining why he has not watched one of this award season’s most emotional films.

On the red carpet at the 2026 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) with wife Kate Middleton, the Prince of Wales, 43, said that he has not yet watched Hamnet — which later took home the award for Outstanding British Film — because he “needed to be in a calm mood” to view it, according to the Daily Mail.

“I need to be in quite a calm state and I am not at the moment. I will save it,” William said on the red carpet at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday, Feb. 22 — just three days after the arrest of his uncle, the former Prince Andrew.

Princess Kate, 44, however, watched the Chloé Zhao-directed film — which earned 11 total BAFTA nominations — the night before, Saturday, Feb. 21, William said, adding that it left his wife teary-eyed. “Floods of tears” was his exact wording, according to the Daily Mail.

Kate thought that watching Hamnet — which tells the grief-filled, fictional tale of William Shakespeare’s family and the writing of his play Hamlet — before stepping out at the BAFTAs was a “bad idea,” she joked ahead of the ceremony.

Kate Middleton and Prince William at the BAFTAs in London on Feb. 22. Scott Garfitt/BAFTA via Getty

“I thought it was a bad idea, actually. Ended up with very puffy eyes,” Kate said before offering high praise for the BAFTA winner, per the Daily Mail.

“It was so beautifully shot. The music as well. The score is fantastic,” the Princess of Wales said of the movie, which she described as a “presentation of intergenerational grief.”

Kate also noted that beyond William — who is the president of BAFTA — watching Hamnet, the couple still has “a long list of films that we still need to get through.”

Also on the BAFTA red carpet, the royals were asked by an attendee, “Is the monarchy in peril?” They ignored the inquiry.

Speaking about Hamnet again later in the evening, Kate also revealed that the couple’s three children — Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7 — have a budding interest in movies.

“The children are starting to get interested in films,” she said, per the Daily Mail, “and it’s a really great way to have some of the hard conversations with them.”

The former Prince Andrew with his nephew, Prince William, in September 2025.Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty

The Prince and Princess of Wales’ appearance at the BAFTAs comes amid a tumultuous period for the royal family after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. It also marks Kate’s first appearance at the ceremony in two years.

While they regularly support the event, Kate and William last walked the BAFTA red carpet together in 2023.

The couple was not in attendance last year, and the prince attended solo in 2024. At the time, he shared his regret that his wife couldn’t join that year amid her cancer diagnosis and treatment.

It is believed that the Prince and Princess of Wales spent much of the last week with their kids, who have been on a school break. The family is believed to have spent time at their country home in Norfolk, Anmer Hall, which is on the same royal estate where Andrew has been living.

Andrew was arrested at Wood Farm on Thursday, Feb. 19 — his 66th birthday — approximately six miles from William and Kate’s home.