BAFTA President Prince William Will Not Attend This Year's Ceremony

Variety.com: BAFTA president Prince William is set to miss the BAFTA Awards for the second year running.

Despite the fact the ceremony is set to take place at the Royal Albert Hall, which is practically a stone’s throw from the prince’s Kensington Palace home, William will skip the ceremony on Sunday, March 13.

Instead, the prince – who is also known as the Duke of Cambridge – will deliver a speech via a pre-recorded video transmission.

“We’re delighted that BAFTA president, the Duke of Cambridge will be participating in the EE BAFTA Film Awards via a pre-recorded video message,” a BAFTA spokesperson told Variety. “Due to diary constraints he is not able to attend in person this year.”

Despite the lack of royalty on the night, there are still plenty of bold face names set to appear during the show, which will be broadcast on BBC and iPlayer in the U.K. and Britbox in the U.S. Among those attending are Lady Gaga, Aaron Sorkin, Benedict Cumberbatch and Lashana Lynch while those performing during the ceremony include Shirley Bassey and Emilia Jones.

Presenting awards on the night will be Daisy Ridley, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Millie Bobby Brown, Patrick Stewart, Regé Jean-Page, RuPaul, Salma Hayek, Sebastian Stan, Sienna Miller, Simon Pegg, Simone Ashley, Sophie Okonedo, Sophie Turner, Tom Hiddleston and Wunmi Mosaku among others.

Rebel Wilson will host the awards.

Prince William was also set to deliver a pre-recorded speech via video link at last year’s mostly virtual BAFTA Awards (with the U.K. still in the throes of pandemic restrictions) but pulled out following the death of his grandfather, Prince Phillip, who died the morning before the ceremony.

Prince William is no stranger to celebrating British film at the Royal Albert Hall, however: in September he attended the premiere of “No Time to Die” there alongside his wife, Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.