Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton will be absent from the upcoming BAFTA Television Awards.
Instead of attending, the Prince of Wales, 41, is expected to record a video message to be played during the event on Sunday, May 12, per Deadline.
Four actors from Netflix’s The Crown — Dominic West (King Charles III), Salim Daw (Mohamed Al-Fayed), Elizabeth Debicki (Princess Diana) and Leslie Manville (Princess Margaret) — are nominated for awards at the BAFTAS on Sunday, which takes place at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Us Weekly reached out to BAFTA and Kensington Palace for comment.
William previously attended the BAFTA Film Awards in February without Kate, 42, by his side. The awards show came one month after Kensington Palace announced she underwent a “planned” abdominal surgery.
“I’m sorry Catherine’s not here. She does love the BAFTAs,” William told Elaine Bedell, chief executive of the Southbank Center, at the time.
Days before the ceremony, Kensington Palace confirmed that William would be without his usual plus one. “The prince, president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), will watch the awards ceremony before meeting category winners and EE Rising Star Award nominees,” read a statement to People in February.
William has attended several engagements on his own since Kate announced in March that she had been diagnosed with cancer following her abdominal procedure. (After Kate began her treatment, she canceled all public-facing duties and isn’t expected to make a return until she is cleared by her doctors.)
“My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy, and I’m now in the early stages of that treatment,” Kate shared in a worldwide video at the time.
Charles, 75, previously announced his own diagnosis with an unspecified form of cancer in February. William, who’s first in line for the throne, has been feeling the pressure amid his family’s health woes.
“It’s been stressful,” a source told Us in April. “William feels a profound sense of duty to uphold the monarchy’s stability and inspire confidence in the public that everything will be OK. It’s an immense responsibility.”
Earlier this month, William gave an uplifting update when asked about his and Kate’s family, including their three kids, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.
“All doing well, thank you,” he told onlookers at the opening of James’ Place Newcastle, a suicide prevention center for men, per social media footage. “Yes, we’re doing well.”
