Poorly Kate Middleton misses out on Hobbit premiere

THE Duchess of Cambridge was absent from Prince William’s side last night when he attended the royal premiere of the new Hobbit movie.

The Duke of Cambridge attended the first UK showing of the new film on his own, saying his pregnant wife Kate “would have loved to have been here if she could”.

William joined the stars of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for the screening in London’s Leicester Square while the Duchess, whose pregnancy was announced last week, continued to rest at St James’s Palace as she is suffering acute morning sickness.

Meeting the film’s stars, the Prince joked with Australian actress Cate Blanchett, who reprises her role as the elf queen Galadriel from the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Also present on the green carpet were Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis, who also play their roles from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as was Sherlock Holmes star Martin Freeman, who plays main character Bilbo Baggins in the JRR Tolkien adaptation.

Sir Ian joked that it was “lovely to put on the pointy hat again”.