Prince William's smile shows 'some degrees of sadness' as Brad Pitt pokes fun at Megxit in BAFTA speech
Prince William and Kate Middleton looked visibly awkward as they smiled and clapped to an obvious dig at Megxit made by Brad Pitt (well, through Margot Robbie's mouth since the actor could not physically be there) after receiving best Supporting Actor award at BAFTA 2020 on February 2.
Pitt's speech began with a jibe at Brexit, after which he moved onto making fun of Harry and Meghan stepping down as senior members of the royal family in January.
“Brad couldn’t be here tonight due to family obligations, so he asked me to read his response for him,” Robbie said. “He starts by saying, ‘Hey Britain. Heard you just became single. Welcome to the club! Wishing you the best for the divorce settlement ... He's gonna name this Harry, because he's really excited about bringing it back to the states with him."
As Robbie wrapped up Pitt's speech, the camera panned around to record William and Kate's reactions. Although the pair tried to hide their shock, it came across clearly in their demeanor, as pointed out by body language expert Judi James.
"William and Kate’s smiles at Brad’s joke about Harry deserved their own BAFTA Best acting gong. The royals clearly wanted to come across as good sports but William’s facial expression, in particular, told us that it was way too soon for him to find anything funny about this brother’s relocation to Canada," James told Mirror.
She added, "William performed a wan smile that was really a grimace as Margot read Brad’s speech. His mouth stretched and widened at the sides into what’s called a Wallace and Gromit smile and as his teeth were bared it was obvious they were clenched shut. His face pulled into a brief wince of what looked like pain and as he tilted his head to the right he performed four quick blinks, overall showing some degrees of sadness behind the attempt at a polite smile."
The Duchess quickly followed in her husband's footsteps when it came to covering up her surprise.
"Kate eye-checked her husband carefully as she opened her mouth to smile ... But she looked away quickly and her 'smile' died quite quickly as she started clapping, suggesting it was far from an expression of genuine pleasure," James added.
