DARKEST POWER
STARS turned the Bafta film awards red carpet black last night to back the Time’s Up campaign against showbiz sex abusers. But the Duchess of Cambridge shunned the dress code for the evening and opted for a deep green dress instead. Pregnant Kate, 36, wore a black sash around the Jenny Packham dress but Palace officials would not say if this was in honour of the dress code. Royal women do not traditionally wear all black unless in mourning and protocol dictates that the family do not take public political stances. An insider said: “Kate was in a really tricky situation. She may very well support Time’s Up privately, but publicly she has to tread carefully on the red carpet knowing the world has eyes on her.” In a move mirroring last month’s Golden Globes, which also featured a black dress code, some of the stars invited activists as their special guests. They included Laura Bates, who founded the award-winning Everyday Sexism project and was the guest of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them actress Gemma Chan, 35. Joanna Lumley, who hosted the event at the Albert Hall, pointed out that the venue was where British women celebrated getting the vote 100 years ago. She said: “A century ago, the suffragettes laid the groundwork for the kind of dogged resistance and powerful protest that is carried through today with the Time’s Up movement, and with it the determination to eradicate the inequality and abuse of women the world over.”