Harry at Dark Knight Rises premiere

Prince Harry gave Batman the royal seal of approval when he turned up at the European premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in London.

He smiled at photographers as he arrived at the film’s second premiere at the BFI Imax in Waterloo.

The Prince, wearing a navy suit, stole the spotlight from Oscar-nominated actress Anne Hathaway, who lived up to her reputation as Hollywood’s golden girl in a gold floor-length Gucci gown.

The 29-year-old star, who plays Selina Kyle and alter-ego Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s third and final instalment, brought a touch of glamour to the red carpet alongside co-star Marion Cotillard, wearing Dior Couture at the two premieres at London’s Leicester Square and the BFI Imax.

Christian Bale – reprising his role as Bruce Wayne and Batman for the third and last time – also attended the star-studded premieres, joined by Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy and the director.

Hathaway, a newcomer to the Batman films who had never worked with Nolan before, revealed she had to endure gruelling preparation for the role.

“It took so much training. If you’re familiar with my other works, you’ll see that I’m not a natural bad-ass so it took a lot of work to get there,” she admitted.

But she added: “It was wonderful, it was such an honour. I love the first two Batman films.”

Hardy, who portrays the caped crusader’s new arch-nemesis Bane, said: “It was great. I got to fight Christian!”

The Dark Knight Rises, also starring Sir Michael Caine and Gary Oldman, opens in cinemas on Friday.