Special reception for the world of entertainment on the eve of The King’s birthday

The worlds of royalty and entertainment collided Wednesday at Buckingham Palace as King Charles and Queen Camilla celebrated the centenary of the Film and TV Charity.

In a star-studded reception featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest film and television stars—and some of the costumes from hits like Titanic, Evil Under the Sun and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World on display—the royals met and mingled to talk about the value of arts with those on screen and behind it.

The King had a chat with British actor Damian Lewis, who currently plays King Henry VIII in a new television production based on Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. He quipped to the King, to much laughter, “At least you can claim not to be related to him!”

The King and Lewis spoke as well about Queen Camilla’s documentary on domestic violence work, with Lewis saying that he had been moved by it and the King agreeing: “It’s very moving, isn’t it? I think BAFTA are interested in it.”

The King later told Naveed Chowdhary-Flatt and Kerene Barefield, two of the crew behind the documentary, that he had been moved to tears by the programme and that “I really am very proud.”

Claudia Winkleman, sister of Sophie Winkleman, who is married to Lord Frederick Windsor and a relative of King Charles, was also in attendance.

King Charles and Queen Camilla were joined by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. Queen Camilla has been making a gradual return to public events following a chest infection that saw her miss Remembrance Sunday events last weekend.

She had been due to attend Wednesday evening’s Royal Film Performance of Gladiator II with her husband, however she pulled out on the advice of her doctors. King Charles attended the film premiere solo and met with its director and stars, a birthday eve outing.