Prince William attended the 2024 BAFTA Awards, as is customary for him to do as President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. However, he left some viewers stunned with the painful blunder he made when speaking to How to Have Sex star Mia McKenna-Bruce.
Prince William arrived solo at the BAFTAs as his wife, Kate Middleton, recovers from abdominal surgery. He noted that he and Middleton typically watch all the nominees together, but given his circumstances, he had some catching up to do, which is understandable. Still, as the President of BAFTA since 2010, one would expect him to ensure he had a basic understanding of the projects up for nominations, especially as he spoke to several nominees about their works. At the very least, the wording of his congratulations shouldn’t make assumptions about films he hasn’t seen before.
Understanding the basic premise of How to Have Sex was quite important, as it is the film that earned McKenna-Bruce her nomination for Rising Star. It is a very powerful film that captures the experience of girls coming of age. The movie’s main purpose is to generate a conversation on the topic of consent and shine a light on the many ways it can be misunderstood or even exploited when the idea is grossly simplified as merely being the word “yes.” It’s a movie that can’t have been easy to write or film, especially as it tackles sexual violence. However, Prince William’s take on the movie left viewers dumbfounded.
Prince William suggests How to Have Sex was “fun” to make
During the ceremony, Prince William took a moment to speak with the female nominees for the Rising Star Award, including McKenna-Bruce, Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, and Sophie Wilde. The interaction started pretty innocuous as the Prince greeted and shook hands with each nominee. He commented on how close the race was before turning to congratulate McKenna-Bruce.
William told McKenna-Bruce, “I haven’t yet watched your film,” to which she responded, “That’s okay.” One would have expected him to say something like, “But it looks very powerful” or “I know it’s about a very important topic.” Instead, Prince William said, “It looked like you had a lot of fun the whole way through it.”
Um, come again? He did not just say that How to Have Sex looked like a “fun” movie to make, did he? One can’t even imagine how difficult it must have been for McKenna-Bruce to put herself in Tara’s shoes and to depict scenes of sexual assault. The absolute last word that should come to anyone’s mind about the making of that movie is “fun.” McKenna-Bruce seemed to play along with Prince William, agreeing that she had a great time making it. However, she concluded by saying pointedly, “And, um, I recommend watching it.”
Again, one can excuse Prince William for not watching every single nomination, but perhaps he should’ve at least read up on them to avoid a situation like this from happening. Although McKenna-Bruce seemed to take it humorously, it’s undeniably insensitive to call a film of How to Have Sex‘s importance and seriousness “fun.” Additionally, why assume that a movie you’ve never seen before is “fun,” especially considering how many movies tackle complex subject matter nowadays? If he truly knew so little about How to Have Sex to even comment on its importance, he could’ve just given a generic congratulations rather than going with the absolute cringiest thing that came to his mind.
On X, many users expressed disbelief at the Prince’s blunder and frustration at how movies like How to Have Sex are treated. It was a bit reminiscent of when Mark Wahlberg got Women Talking‘s title wrong while reading out the Best Picture nominees at the Oscars. Is it really too much to ask that the men talking about these significant movies do so with just the slightest amount of care? We’re literally just asking for them to get the title right or not call a movie that depicts sexual assault “fun.” Surely, that shouldn’t be too difficult to do, but here we are.
Meanwhile, Prince William not knowing the basic premises of movies nominated at the BAFTAs isn’t even the worst offense here. It’s that the idea of women’s stories being central to a film was apparently so foreign to him that he felt like it was safe to simplify these award-winning movies down to being “fun.”
He shouldn’t have to be told that the stories women have to tell aren’t always fun, though they are very necessary. A lot of times, these movies strive to make viewers uncomfortable by forcing them to take action or fix their perspective. Hopefully, Prince William learns this before he tells the next female nominee that her movie, which he has never seen, looks fun.
(featured image: WPA Pool / Getty)
