CHUCK UP Charles
(Photo: Getty Images)

Almost a couple of months have passed since a member of the British royal family embarrassed himself, but never fear! Along comes Prince Charles! The bumbling heir to the throne has abruptly withdrawn from the Royal Film Performance of new gritty London picture Brick Lane, scheduled for November. Subsequently, the film gala has been canceled.

"It's simply another monumental royal cock-up," says a source at Ruby Films, the makers of the film.

When Brick Lane was first chosen for the black-tie Royal Film Performance, the critics lauded the Windsors for selecting something edgier than the usual celluloid fare. (Previous selections include a string of James Bond movies, The Parent Trap, and Titanic.) Based on Monica Ali's best-selling 2003 novel, which depicts the struggle of a recent Bangladeshi immigrant to assimilate into British society, Brick Lane infuriated denizens of East London's real-life Brick Lane. Protests by residents and traders claiming the film would portray London's Bangladeshi community in a bad light led producer Alison Owen, Gwyneth Paltrow's best friend, to abandon plans to shoot on location in the Brick Lane.

The film pressed on in spite of the controversy, but it is the royals who have ultimately demonstrated their difficulty adjusting to multi-cultural Britain. No official reason has been given for the Prince's U-turn but it is thought that Buckingham Palace was keen to distance itself from the controversy that surrounded the film's production.

"It's like people at Buckingham Palace have just done a Nexis search, found about about the protests, and decided they were scared of being connected to them," the source close to the film tells Radar. Owen, the film's director Sarah Gavron, and its cast of newcomers are said to be furiously insulted at the news. The retreat has echoes of Princess Diana pulling out of the movie premiere of the 1988 film Buster, in which Phil Collins played real-life British train robber Buster Edwards, following tabloid claims that the movie glamorized crime.

"[Brick Lane] got a great reception at Toronto so [filmmakers] are not too worried about the cancelation," says our source, "but it's a bit of a snub nonetheless."