William, Kate promote British talent in Hollywood

LOS ANGELES—Prince William and wife Catherine used their star power to promote British acting talent at a glittering dinner with Hollywood A-listers on the last night of a 12-day North American tour.

Preparing to fly home on Sunday after visiting Canada and California—their first overseas trip since marrying in April—the future British king paid tribute to the “magic” of Anglo-American creative dynamism.

William, president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta), urged guests including Tom Hanks and Nicole Kidman to give a chance to 42 up-and-coming “Brits to watch” invited to mingle with the Hollywood stars.

“Please give them the opportunities you have always extended to some of the brightest and best that Britain has to offer. When American and British creative talents get together, magic happens,” he said Saturday night.

“Let’s continue the winning formula,” added William, who with his wife received a Beatles-like reception in Canada last week.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were given the full red carpet treatment in Los Angeles—and generated more excitement than A-listers including Hanks and Kidman attending the event.

Hundreds of fans gathered outside the Belasco Theater in downtown LA, cheering as the usual celebrities arrived—but screaming the place down when William and Catherine arrived.

“They’re not just actors, their position is so much greater,” said LA local Sarah Pijuan, 28, after meeting the couple who for the first time stopped to talk to fans here—a contact with the public which they had lots of in Canada.

Earlier in the day they wowed the crowds at a charity polo match in Santa Barbara, an hour north of Los Angeles up the Pacific coast—especially after the prince’s team won the afternoon’s tournament.

Tickets for the one-off event went for $400—and $4,000 for the privilege of lunching with the royal couple before the on-field action.

The 29-year-old future king drew whoops of approval when he took the field under a blazing West Coast sun at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club, as Catherine watched admiringly from the stands.

“They’re great role models for young people, they’re elegant and great ambassadors for their country,” said Santa Barbara resident Victoria Hines, 65, dressed up for the exclusive event.

Catherine’s clothes have also impressed—she reportedly brought 40 outfits for the 12-day trip. On Saturday she wore a silver and marble grey dress by Jenny Packham to the polo, and a full-length light blue number in the evening.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge—as they have been since marrying in London in April—arrived in Los Angeles on Friday for the weekend trip following a nine-day tour of Canada.

Officially, the Californian mini-tour will aim to “contribute to deepening and strengthening the multilayered links between the United States and the United Kingdom,” according to a British official briefing.

Unofficially, all eyes have been on who they meet—after David Beckham and British writer-broadcaster Stephen Fry on Friday; Saturday’s celebrity crop included Jennifer Lopez, Barbra Streisand and Jack Black.

On Sunday they visited “Skid Row” in downtown to visit the Inner-City Arts school, a nonprofit academy that provides free classes in visual and performing arts to children from poor neighborhoods.

Later they attended a job fair for military veterans at Sony Studios in Culver City, before leaving Los Angeles to return to the United Kingdom.