manchester showbiz
Thursday, 8th December 2005
Royals attend Narnia premiere The Prince of Wales and The Duchess Of Cornwall arrive at the Royal Albert HallCharles and Camilla joined the stars of the new movie version of CS Lewis's classic tale, including Tilda Swinton, who plays the White Witch. Swinton looked every inch the ice queen in her white floor-length skirt and fitted jacket decorated with dramatic gold raffled neckline and cusp. The Prince and the Duchess stepped out onto a frosty blue carpet rather than the usual red one, in keeping with the film's snowy setting. The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe is the first of the Chronicles of Narnia series to make it to the big screen. Fake snow swirled around the Royal Albert Hall in London, and sculptures resembling chunks of blue ice decorated the entrance.
Celebrities Among the celebrities who attended the special screening of Disney's long-awaited £62 million movie were Joan Collins, Sadie Frost, Lennie Henry, Kelly Brook, Sir Roger Moore and Coleen McLoughlin. Camilla wore a long midnight blue silk skirt by Robinson Valentine and a black cashmere jacket decorated with jet beading to the black-tie do. And the royals chatted to the stars of the adaptation ahead of the screening. Dawn French, who voices Mrs Beaver, said afterwards: "The Duchess was very funny. She's got good jokes. "I play Mrs Beaver, and Ray (Winstone) plays Mr Beaver. "She told us not to nip each other." Winstone said he discussed Mr Beaver's accent with Charles. "It's an East London one, of course," the actor said. Swinton revealed after chatting to Camilla: "The Duchess said that her daughter was so frightened of the White Witch that she didn't want to come tonight." The royals also met James McAvoy, who plays the Fawn, Mr Tumnus, and the film's child stars. William Moseley plays Peter, Skandar Keynes appears as Edmund, Anna Popplewell is Susan and ten-year-old Georgie Henley plays Lucy. The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe tells the magical story of the Pevensie children, who discover a wardrobe that is the gateway to the land of Narnia, a frozen winterland of good and evil. It has been tipped as the Christmas blockbuster to rival Harry Potter. However, author Philip Pullman has dismissed CS Lewis as "blatantly racist" and "monumentally disparaging of women". Lewis was a Christian covert and wrote the Chronicles as a Christian allegory, with Aslan the lion representing Christ. Disney is promoting the film to the religious by appointing Outreach, an evangelical publisher, to promote the Christian message behind the move in British churches. The premiere was in aid of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund.
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