For a crowd used to being the subject of global adulation, the tables were turned for Tinseltown's elite as some of Hollywood's biggest stars jostled for the opportunity to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Kate and William were the guests of honour at a glittering Bafta dinner in aid of British creative talent - an event which saw some of the most famous faces on the planet momentarily become star-struck fans in the presence of royalty.
Actors Jack Black, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez were among the guests as was comic actor Stephen Fry. The stars gushed in their admiration of the royal couple. Kidman stopped briefly on the red carpet outside the theatre and praised the Duke and Duchess. She said: 'I think they are lovely. I just got off the phone to my mum and she said, 'I'm so glad you're going, you're Australian' - they just make you smile.' Fry, who met the couple at a consul-general reception on Friday night, welcomed the evening for presenting a 'shop window' for new talent.
William is president of Bafta and the organisation hosted the evening to highlight the range and depth of the British talent currently emerging in film, television and video games. Forty-two emerging Brits have been selected by an expert Bafta panel to attend the event to introduce them to the 'movers and shakers' in Hollywood. The Bafta reception and dinner was held in the architecturally Belasco Theatre in central Los Angeles.
The royal couple arrived to deafening screams from crowds held behind crash barriers and walked along the red carpet and held a small walkabout, meeting families whose relatives were connected with the event. The Duchess looked stunning in a lavender-coloured dress by Alexander McQueen and William was smart in his dinner jacket and black bow tie. Inside the theatre they met leading figures from Bafta and just before they arrived in the theatre's ballroom Duncan Kenworthy, the academy's vice president and one of the country's leading producers, told the many famous faces in the room to 'be cool' and not to rush the celebrities when they came in, but the royals proved a big draw.
William gave a speech to the guests and joked with them at the beginning. Speaking in a slightly husky voice he made the audience laugh when he said: 'Before I start I should just like to thank Colin Firth for my perfect opening line - 'I have a voice'.' He went on to say: 'As president of Bafta, I am immensely proud of the success Brits have had in the fiercely competitive world of film, television and video games. Their creative and hi-tech achievements have contributed greatly to our national wealth, not to mention our personal pleasure. 'Tonight I celebrate them: but I particularly celebrate the fact that, hard on their heels, comes another wave of enormously talented Brits, whom you have the chance to meet this evening. They deserve equal success and, with your help, will surely achieve it. 'Please give them the opportunities you have always extended to some of the brightest and best that Britain has to offer. When American and British creative talent gets together, magic happens.
'Let's continue the winning formula. Catherine and I have been hugely looking forward to tonight's event with its exciting cast, British and American. Thank you all so much for coming. I believe great things will result. And now, as they say: 'Lights, Camera, Action'.' When William stepped down from the ballroom stage, one of the first groups the royal and his wife talked to was Jennifer Lopez, Tom Hanks, and his wife Rita Wison, and Barbra Streisand. They spent a number of minutes chatting to the famous trio before working the room.
Actors Jack Black, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez were among the guests as was comic actor Stephen Fry. The stars gushed in their admiration of the royal couple. Kidman stopped briefly on the red carpet outside the theatre and praised the Duke and Duchess. She said: 'I think they are lovely. I just got off the phone to my mum and she said, 'I'm so glad you're going, you're Australian' - they just make you smile.' Fry, who met the couple at a consul-general reception on Friday night, welcomed the evening for presenting a 'shop window' for new talent.
William is president of Bafta and the organisation hosted the evening to highlight the range and depth of the British talent currently emerging in film, television and video games. Forty-two emerging Brits have been selected by an expert Bafta panel to attend the event to introduce them to the 'movers and shakers' in Hollywood. The Bafta reception and dinner was held in the architecturally Belasco Theatre in central Los Angeles.
The royal couple arrived to deafening screams from crowds held behind crash barriers and walked along the red carpet and held a small walkabout, meeting families whose relatives were connected with the event. The Duchess looked stunning in a lavender-coloured dress by Alexander McQueen and William was smart in his dinner jacket and black bow tie. Inside the theatre they met leading figures from Bafta and just before they arrived in the theatre's ballroom Duncan Kenworthy, the academy's vice president and one of the country's leading producers, told the many famous faces in the room to 'be cool' and not to rush the celebrities when they came in, but the royals proved a big draw.
William gave a speech to the guests and joked with them at the beginning. Speaking in a slightly husky voice he made the audience laugh when he said: 'Before I start I should just like to thank Colin Firth for my perfect opening line - 'I have a voice'.' He went on to say: 'As president of Bafta, I am immensely proud of the success Brits have had in the fiercely competitive world of film, television and video games. Their creative and hi-tech achievements have contributed greatly to our national wealth, not to mention our personal pleasure. 'Tonight I celebrate them: but I particularly celebrate the fact that, hard on their heels, comes another wave of enormously talented Brits, whom you have the chance to meet this evening. They deserve equal success and, with your help, will surely achieve it. 'Please give them the opportunities you have always extended to some of the brightest and best that Britain has to offer. When American and British creative talent gets together, magic happens.
'Let's continue the winning formula. Catherine and I have been hugely looking forward to tonight's event with its exciting cast, British and American. Thank you all so much for coming. I believe great things will result. And now, as they say: 'Lights, Camera, Action'.' When William stepped down from the ballroom stage, one of the first groups the royal and his wife talked to was Jennifer Lopez, Tom Hanks, and his wife Rita Wison, and Barbra Streisand. They spent a number of minutes chatting to the famous trio before working the room.
