Prince William will be skipping this weekend’s BAFTA Awards after Prince Philip’s death

Prince Philip has canceled his scheduled appearance at the Virtual BAFTA Awards this weekend as the royal family mourns the death of Prince Philip.

Prince William is the president of BAFTA, having taken over the position from Sir Richard Attenborough in 2010.

He was also expected to deliver a speech at Sunday’s Main Film Awards. It would have been Live, and distributed via a virtual link. However, the Prince felt any involvement was inappropriate just one day after the death of Prince Philip, who himself was the first president of the institution in 1959.

For the 2021 ceremony, William was to have a virtual conversation with costume designer Jenny Bevan and hair and makeup designer Sharon Martin. On Sunday he was scheduled to deliver a speech highlighting the resilience of the British film and television industries in the face of enormous obstacles posed by the coronavirus epidemic.

BAFTA stated, “After the passing of The Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke of Cambridge will no longer be part of BAFTA programming this weekend”. Our thoughts are with the Royal family, to whom we extend our deepest sympathy at this time.”

BAFTA will be paying a tribute of its own to Prince Philip at the ceremony.