The Moment
On paper, it was classic royal glamour: the Prince and Princess of Wales sweeping into the EE BAFTA Film Awards at London’s Royal Festival Hall, he in a dark red velvet tux, she in a re-worn pink Gucci gown and loose waves. Very “everything’s fine here, darling.”
But then Prince William opened his mouth, and the mask slipped just a little.
According to a February 2026 red carpet report, William admitted he still hasn’t watched Hamnet – the much-praised, tear-jerker film about the death of Shakespeare’s young son – because, in his own words, he needs to be in “quite a calm state” and “I am not at the moment.” He added, “I will save it.”
I wish William would speak up about his uncle – express his disgust, horror and support the public anger – his father can’t/won’t. Calmness comes from release
Prince William says he is ‘not in calm state at the moment’ on Bafta red carpet https://t.co/n7KeVgcEvP via @MetroUK pic.twitter.com/Ss0ZtVxQTv
— Jo Hemmings 🇺🇦 (@TVpsychologist) February 23, 2026
Given the last few months, that’s… understandable. The same report ties William’s emotional state to two enormous stressors: Catherine’s ongoing cancer battle and the bombshell arrest of his uncle, Prince Andrew, in connection with allegations about sharing confidential trade information with Jeffrey Epstein years ago. Police have reportedly searched multiple royal properties, and King Charles has issued a rare public pledge of full cooperation.
Catherine, meanwhile, apparently watched Hamnet the night before and confessed it left her in “floods of tears,” joking she ended up with “very puffy eyes” but praising the film as “so beautifully shot” with a fantastic score.
So there they were: William and Kate posing with Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Stone, Cillian Murphy, Timothee Chalamet, Glenn Close, and the rest of the film elite… while, offstage, their family looks more like a prestige drama than the movies they’re celebrating.
The Take
I’m just going to say it: this is what it looks like when the royal machine tries to run its usual “sparkle, smile, move on” playbook during a genuine family earthquake.
On one hand, William’s comment about not being in a calm state is startlingly honest for a man raised to stay bullet-proof neutral in public. He could’ve just said, “Haven’t seen it yet, can’t wait!” and moved on. Instead, he gave us a glimpse behind the curtain: the future king is rattled.
On the other hand, the whole scene plays like a very choreographed split-screen. On one side: Kate in a recycled Gucci gown – a deliberate choice, by the way. Re-wearing a dress she first debuted at a 2019 finance gala signals continuity, restraint, and the kind of quiet thrift the palace loves to trot out when the word “scandal” is trending. On the other: a fresh round of brutal headlines about Andrew and Epstein, and renewed concern for Kate’s health.
It’s like trying to host a picture-perfect Thanksgiving while your basement’s flooding and your brother’s on the local news. You can light the good candles all you want, but everyone can still hear the sirens.
There’s also the optics problem: using Kate’s vulnerability over a sad movie – “floods of tears,” “puffy eyes” – as the relatable, soft-focus story, while the Andrew situation hums ominously underneath. The princess crying at an art film is safe. The royal uncle arrested over anything involving Jeffrey Epstein is absolutely not.
To me, William’s remark lands like a quiet admission that the usual royal polish isn’t cutting it. For a family that has spent decades insisting they are “never complain, never explain,” we’re inching toward something more modern: “I’m here, but I’m not okay, and I’m saying that out loud.”
Receipts
Confirmed
- Prince William is a longtime president of the British Film Academy and regularly attends the BAFTAs (documented across multiple years of official BAFTA coverage and palace diaries).
- Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender; his crimes and associations have been extensively documented in U.S. court records and widely covered by major international outlets.
- The Princess of Wales publicly revealed a cancer diagnosis in 2024 via a filmed statement, carried by major UK and U.S. broadcasters and the royal family’s official channels.
Unverified / Reported
- A British newspaper report dated February 22, 2026, quotes Prince William on the BAFTA red carpet saying he needs to be in “quite a calm state” to watch Hamnet and is “not at the moment,” so he will “save it.”
- The same report says Catherine watched Hamnet the night before BAFTA, was left in “floods of tears,” joked about “very puffy eyes,” and praised the movie’s cinematography and score.
- That coverage also claims Prince Andrew was arrested and questioned for around 11 hours by Thames Valley Police over allegations he shared confidential trade reports and investment opportunities with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010-2011 while serving as a trade envoy, and that police searched properties connected to him, including Wood Farm and Royal Lodge.
- The paper further describes an “unprecedented” statement from King Charles pledging “wholehearted support and co-operation” with the investigation and granting access to royal files and records.
These latter points rely on a single tabloid-style report; at the time of writing, wider documentary evidence and formal legal filings have not been publicly reviewed here, and all references to Andrew’s conduct remain allegations, not findings of guilt.
Backstory (For Casual Readers)
If you haven’t kept a royal scorecard since Diana and Fergie, here’s the quick catch-up. Prince William, now Prince of Wales, is first in line to the throne after his father, King Charles. His wife Catherine has long been the monarchy’s steady, modernizing star – the polished working mother who smiles through everything from school drop-offs to state dinners.
Prince Andrew, Charles’s younger brother, fell from grace over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. He stepped back from royal duties years ago after a disastrous TV interview and has been widely described as “disgraced” in British media, even before these new reported allegations about trade information. In contrast, the Waleses have been positioned as the future: dutiful, relatable, scandal-light.
That neat dividing line – reliable William and Kate over here, messy Andrew over there – gets a lot blurrier when arrests, police searches, and a serious illness in the immediate family all collide in the same news cycle as a major red-carpet appearance.
What’s Next
From here, everything hinges on two parallel tracks: health and accountability.
On the personal side, all eyes will stay on Catherine’s health updates and how much public work she takes on. Choosing to show up at a headline-making event like the BAFTAs sends a message: she and William are still “on duty,” even if he admits he’s far from calm.
On the legal side, the key questions are what, if anything, Thames Valley Police and prosecutors choose to do next regarding Andrew – and how much the palace lets the process play out in daylight. If more official statements or documents are released, they’ll either reinforce that “wholehearted co-operation” line or expose new tension between the Crown and the law.
For William, every future appearance now carries extra weight. Does he keep offering these small, human flashes – “I’m not calm right now” – or does the institution snap back to stone-faced tradition? Because the public has gotten a taste of a more transparent heir, and once you’ve seen the crack in the armor, it’s hard to pretend it’s not there.
So, what do you think: did William’s honesty about not being in a calm state feel refreshingly real to you, or does it ring hollow against the backdrop of such serious allegations swirling around his family?
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