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All eyes were on Prince William at the 2020 BAFTAs when Brad Pitt made a joke about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s exit from the royal family. How did William take the ribbing? His grimacing reaction might be telling of just how he’s feeling about his brother recently jumping ship.

Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at 2020 BAFTAs
Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge | JEFF GILBERT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Brad Pitt’s speech got a dig in on the royal family

Pitt picked up the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2020 BAFTAs and, though he wasn’t on hand at the event to accept it personally, he had his Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood co-star, Margot Robbie, read a speech in his absence.

During the brief acceptance speech, Robbie read Pitt’s words, which included a joke about Prince Harry’s recent exit from the royal family.

“Hey Britain, heard you just became single -— welcome to the club,” Pitt said in the speech read by Robbie. “Wishing you the best with the divorce settlement.”

After a list of thank yous, including those that Robbie glossed over when she noted: “He goes on to thank you again, blah blah blah — it’s a bit much really,” she moved on to Pitt’s Megxit funny.

“He says that he’s going to name this Harry because he is really excited about bringing it back to the states with him,” Robbie noted, holding up the award. She was sure to add, “His words, not mine!”

The camera cut to Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, for their reaction and they both looked amused by Pitt’s joke, laughing awkwardly and clapping politely. It was clear that William wasn’t loving the joke at his family’s expense, however.

Prince William called out the lack of diversity on the nominees list

During the awards, Prince William gave an emotional speech addressing the lack of diversity at the BAFTAs.

When Prince William, who has been the BAFTA president for 10 years, presented film producer Kathleen Kennedy with the Fellowship award, he spoke about his frustration that there was little diversity among the nominees.

“Both here in the U.K. and in many other countries across the world we are lucky to have incredible filmmakers, actors, producers, directors and technicians — men and women from all backgrounds and ethnicities enriching our lives through film,” Prince William shared.

He continued: “Yet in 2020, and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to ensure diversity in the sector and in the awards process — that simply cannot be right in this day and age!”

Prince William gave assurances that the situation would be addressed, explaining: “I know that both Pippa, Chair of BAFTA, and Amanda, BAFTA CEO, share that frustration and continue to work tirelessly to ensure that creative talent is discovered and supported. BAFTA takes this issue seriously, and following this year’s nominations have launched a full and thorough review of the entire Awards process to build on their existing work and ensure that opportunities are available to everyone.”

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