Thursday, 5 December 2013
The Duchess of Cambridge braved plunging temperatures on the red carpet tonight in a daring cream gown slit to the thigh.
Kate, 31, was wearing a dress by French designer Roland Mouret for the official 2013 Royal Film Performance in London.
She and husband Prince William, dapper in black tie, were attending the UK premiere of Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom at the Odeon Leicester Square.
Their four-month-old son, Prince George, remained home at Kensington Palace.
Kate has worn the dress before - at a private dinner in May 2012 when Prince William spoke to the 'Thirty Club' at Claridges hotel - but 'blinged' it up tonight with an eye-catching costume jewellery necklace.
Her hair was swept back in a modern ponytail to show off her dramatic neckline to best effect.
Starring British actor Idris Elba, 'Mandela' follows the iconic anti-apartheid leader’s extraordinary life from childhood through to his 27-year imprisonment on Robben Island and, finally, his inauguration as the first democratically elected President of South Africa in 1994.
'For somone who doesn't look like Mandela you have got to work harder to get the audience in there.
'I think he [Mandela] has seen parts of the film but ultimately it's about his life, he's been there, he's done it - so he might not even need to see it.
'Tonight is extra special because this is my country and when the royals come out to watch a film it's. a big deal. I feel very proud that it's my film, really proud.'
Indeed ailing Mr Mandela, 95, is unlikely to ever see the finished film, based on his autobiography Long Walk To Freedom, as he is still in a criticial condition after being hospitalised earlier this year with a recurring lung infection.
On Wednesday his daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, insisted he was ‘still with us, strong, courageous’ but admitted for the first time that he was on his 'deathbed’.
'Even for a lack of a better word... on his deathbed he is teaching us lessons - lessons in patience, in love, lessons of tolerance,’ she added.
'Every moment I get with him I'm amazed.
'There are times where I have to pinch myself that I come from this man who is a fighter even though you can see he is struggling, but the fighting spirit is still there with him.'
