King celebrates film and TV industry at Buckingham Palace

The King has celebrated the UK’s film and television industry at a Buckingham Palace reception before a night out at the Gladiator II premiere.

Charles welcomed directors, actors, TV presenters, stunt performers and costume designers at Buckingham Palace in London on Wednesday, including the director of the Gladiator sequel, Sir Ridley Scott.

The Queen attended at his side whilst they welcomed the guests, but left the event early as she is recovering from a chest infection.

The reception at the historic royal residence marked the centenary of the Film and TV Charity, of which Charles has become patron, following in the footsteps of his late mother Elizabeth II who had held the role since 1952.

Film director Sir Ridley, actor Joseph Fiennes, actress India Amarteifio from the hit Netflix show Queen Charlotte, and TV presenter Claudia Winkleman were among the celebrities who attended the event.

Camilla, greeting Sir Ridley alongside Charles, coughed before she shook his hand and said: “I am so sorry I’m can’t come (to the premiere) tonight. I’d be coughing all the way through.”

Actor Damian Lewis, who plays the Tudor King Henry VIII in the BBC historical drama Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light, remarked during a conversation with Charles: “At least you could claim not to be related.”

He also said it was “great” to see Camilla’s new ITV1 documentary looking at her work around domestic abuse.

Actress and filmmaker Emily Mortimer, speaking at the event, said the King demonstrating support towards the people who work in the British Film and TV industry was “huge”.

“It means so much,” she said.

“I feel like everybody is so excited to be here and it’s very special.

“It’s like they (the King and Queen) are noticing what’s happening, and that it’s part of the fabric of society.

“We’re all here trying to do something that feels like an important contribution.

“As performers and people in this industry, it’s nice to remember that actually, you may not do a job that looks like a grown-up job, but it really is an important contribution. Entertaining people is a massively important role.”

Speaking about her experience working in the British film industry, she added: “It’s a very unstable profession.

“You get older and older and you’ve been doing it longer and longer, and in most jobs that would mean some level of security – but in our job it doesn’t. We’re just freelance people – like circus people, in a way.

“There is a magic to that, but there is also a lot of insecurity.

“So the fact that there are people out there willing to support the industry, and people who are willing to take the risk to commit themselves and their lives to this profession, is so important.”

Marcus Ryder MBE, the chief executive of the Film and TV charity, said the event was intended to celebrate and show support “to everybody in the TV and film industry”.

He said: “In a film, you don’t even see the tip of the iceberg – you see the snow that covers the tip of the iceberg.

“We have to support everybody – all the people who make the magic happen.

“It’s wonderful to see all the people who make the iceberg.”

A number of costumes and props from films were put on show at Buckingham Palace for the reception, including costumes worn by Joseph Quinn in his role as Emperor Geta in Gladiator II, and the costume worn by the late Bernard Hill in his role as Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron’s Titanic.

Two of Russell Crowe’s costumes from Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World were also on show, as well as the late Dame Maggie Smith’s outfit from the 1982 film Evil Under The Sun.

Dame Maggie died in September at the age of 89.

On the eve of his 76th birthday, Charles will later make a solo outing to the glitzy global premiere of Gladiator II at the Odeon Luxe in London’s Leicester Square after Camilla pulled out of attending the red carpet affair.

Charles will meet the film’s stars including Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen and Pedro Pascal, and director Sir Ridley, before settling down to watch a screening of the movie.