Prince William has withdrawn from the BAFTA Awards on Sunday (11.04.21).

Prince William

Prince William

The 38-year-old royal was due to deliver a speech at the annual awards show, via a video link, but he has withdrawn from the event following the passing of Prince Philip.

The event is one of the UK's biggest annual awards ceremonies and Prince William was set to speak about the resilience of the British film industry amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Duke of Edinburgh was actually BAFTA’s first-ever president, between 1959 and 1965, and he continued to support the organisation throughout his life.

And after Prince Philip's passing was confirmed by Buckingham Palace on Friday (09.04.21), the organisation released a statement to express its sympathies.

BAFTA said: "We are deeply saddened by the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, whose close association with the Academy spanned over 60 years.

"HRH The Duke of Edinburgh became the organisation's first president in 1959, one year after the British Film Academy and the Guild of Television Producers and Directors merged to create the Society of Film and Television Arts, a forerunner of BAFTA. The Duke represented the Society until 1965 and presented awards at ceremonies during this period."

The statement later added: "The Duke occupies a special place in the Academy’s history and will be missed enormously.

"Our thoughts are with the Royal Family, to whom we offer our deepest sympathy."

Meanwhile, a source has claimed that Prince Philip wanted to die "in his own bed" and "on his own terms".

The royal - who passed away at Windsor Castle at the age of 99 - spent almost a month in hospital earlier this year, where he was treated for an infection and a heart condition.

The insider said: "He spent most of the four weeks he was in hospital trying to get home. They operated on his heart in a bid to give him a little longer, maybe with the 100th birthday in mind. But he didn't really care about that.

"There is no way he would have wanted to die in hospital."

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