ZapGossip

Prince William to honour Dame Helen Mirren at BAFTAs


Prince William will present Dame Helen Mirren with the Fellowship award at the BAFTA Awards 2014.

The Duke of Cambridge – who is President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts – will honour the 68-year-old actress at the annual ceremony which will be held on February 16 at London’s Royal Opera House.

Amanda Berry OBE, chief executive of BAFTA, is "delighted" to have the 31-year-old royal – whose grandfather, Prince Philip, was the organisation’s first president in 1959 – attend the awards ceremony.

She said in a statement: "We are delighted to welcome our President back to the EE British Academy Film Awards. The Duke loves film and he is incredibly supportive of the work BAFTA does."

Berry was thrilled with the prince’s backing for the BAFTA ‘Give Something Back’ campaign which calls on the organisation’s members to share the knowledge and expertise of the industry with new and emerging talent.

She added: "Over the last year, The Duke has attended the launch of our ‘Give Something Back’ campaign and also given his name to three BAFTA scholarships, helping us deliver our shared ambition of giving talented young people a chance to succeed, regardless of their background."

Meanwhile, Mirren previously admitted she thought her work was too "raunchy" to receive a BAFTA Fellowship and was "stunned" to be following in the footsteps of the likes of Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Dame Judi Dench, Charlie Chaplin and Steven Spielberg in receiving the accolade.

She said: "Much of the time my artistic choices are raunchy."

Discussing her 1989 film ‘The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover’ – which featured cannibalism and violence – she added: "In many ways it was right up my alley – and the quality in me that makes me relish that kind of thing was the reason I thought I would never, ever be the person to win this Fellowship."