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He had the red carpet, the Hollywood movie stars and the requisite black-tie attire.

All that Prince William was missing Wednesday night for the U.K. premiere of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" was his duchess, Kate Middleton.

Middleton, 30, was forced to cancel her appearance alongside her husband at the high-profile event because of the acute morning sickness that hospitalized her last week when the palace announced she was pregnant with the couple's first child, the would-be heir to the royal throne.

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Middleton, suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition that causes sustained nausea and discomfort, was released from King Edward VII Hospital in London last Thursday after a four-day stay. Palace officials announced Tuesday that the Duchess of Cambridge, as she is formally known, would continue to rest instead of attending the premiere.

William, nonetheless, stepped out without his wife of more than one year, and accepted fellow attendees' best wishes on her behalf.

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"I passed on my best wishes to Kate and he said, 'She would have loved to have been here if she could,'" Tessa Street, manager of the cinema in London's Leicester Square where the premiere occurred, told reporters, according to People magazine.

William also mingled with the A-list stars of the highly anticipated film, including Cate Blanchett, Sir Ian McKellen and the film's director, Peter Jackson, on, what was in the this premiere's case, a green carpet in honor of the film.

Wednesday night's premiere benefited The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund and, according to reports, the fund's supporters also expressed their appreciation to William, 30, for showing up despite his family obligations.

"I said to William, 'Thank you for taking the time to come and be here tonight' because I'm sure he wants to be at home making sure Kate's OK," Debbie Chalet, a fund trustee, told reporters.

While Prince William canceled some events in the wake of his wife's illness, he did attend another charity event Saturday where he reportedly also spoke about Middleton's condition, saying to a guest, "I don't know why they call it morning sickness; they should call it all-day and all-night sickness," according to the U.K.'s Telegraph.