Royal fans are 'melting' over Prince William and Cate Blanchett at the BAFTAs as he attends without Kate Middleton

Prince William and Cate Blanchett looked like the best of pals at the BAFTAs as the royal sat next to his celebrity friend.

The Prince of Wales and Cate Blanchett looked fantastic as they dressed to the nines in black tie for the 77th British Academy Film Awards held on Sunday evening in London. 

It was a star-studded evening full of plenty of epic fashion moments. From Gillian Anderson's emerald green gown to Vera Wang's Kate Middleton-inspired look. 

And while Kate Middleton herself wasn't able to make it, Prince William was in great company, sitting alongside Cate and football icon, David Beckham for the ceremony.

While royal fans usually look forward to seeing Catherine step out at the BAFTAs, the Princess of Wales couldn't attend the awards with her husband as she has been recuperating from a planned surgery that took place in January. 

Although Kate Middleton has been spending time recovering with the Wales family in Norfolk, she is still not expected to return to her typical royal duties for a good few weeks and therefore was absent from the BAFTAs - although Prince William shared a sweet revelation about her during his appearance.

And William's warm interactions with Cate Blanchett really thrilled royal fans, who are always keen to see the good friends reunite. 

Taking to social media, plenty of royal supporters shared their love for Cate and Prince William's BAFTA get together. 

"I AM MELTING! Cate Blanchett and Prince William at the [BAFTAs]" said one fan on social media.

"Picture of the Day The way Cate Blanchett greeted Prince William at the BAFTA’s is everything he needed right now #PrinceWilliam #EEBAFTAs," said another, praising the actress for supporting William. 

"Cate Blanchett sitting next to Prince William is kind of crazy," said another.

Cate and the Prince of Wales met a decade ago in 2014 when they both attended a dinner to celebrate the work of The Royal Marsden.

Since this time, they have built a friendship that they have publicly established over the past few years. As a supporter of ending climate change, Prince William's Earthshot Prize has won the praise of Cate Blanchett who has been keen to bolster his environmental award that awards creative inventors who find new ways to tackle issues our environment is facing.

In 2023, Cate participated in the third annual awards presentation by introducing the prize winners. Speaking about taking part in this initiative, the actress said, "The climate solutions showcased by the prize are wildly exciting – exciting because they are so simple, so possible, and so inevitable."

"The solutions are game-changing, and like all truly game-changing ideas, they have a strange ‘how could we not have thought and implemented this before?!’ quality. I am proud to be a small part of unveiling the winners," she concluded.