A Street Cat Named Bob premiere: Kate Middleton stuns in white on the red carpet

Kate joined a host of stars for the charity premiere
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Rob Jobson4 November 2016
The Weekender

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The Duchess of Cambridge wowed on the red carpet at the premiere of A Street Cat Named Bob.

Wearing a long white evening dress by label "Self Portrait" Kate was cheered as she arrived at the Curzon Mayfair for the charity event which was in aid of Action on Addiction, of which Kate is royal Patron.

Before the film the Duchess met the stars, cast and crew, and representatives from the charity including the incredibly chilled out star - ginger cat Bob.

Other stars included Luke Treadaway in the lead role and Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt, who played Mrs Bates in the ITV drama.

Royal arrival: The Duchess of Cambridge walks the red carpet (PA)
Ian West/PA

A Street Cat Named Bob tells the story of homeless busker James Bowen, played by Treadaway, whose life was turned around by a stray ginger cat.

Speaking about the role he said, "It is quite incredible that this has happened to me and Bob."

Treadaway said of the big screen adaptation: "Bob was cool. I reckon he enjoyed the filming.

Co-stars: Luke Treadaway with Ruta Gedmintas
Steve Parsons/PA

"The fact that this was a true story and it was a film that would educate people about addiction and homelessness made it a really great film to be involved with.

"It was a great story about a real person who managed to turn it around."

Kate attended in her capacity as patron of Action On Addiction, a charity that helps those struggling with drug and alcohol abuse as well as their loved ones.

Immediately before the premiere, the Duchess saw highlights of the Recovery Street Film Festival.

The festival features inspiring films made by former addicts and their loved ones about life in recovery from addiction.

Born in Surrey, Bowen was raised in Australia. He returned to England in 1997, becoming a heroin addict and sleeping rough for ten years.

But his life changed when he found a stray cat on a doorstep in 2007.

On methadone as part of a programme to wean him off heroin, Bowen was barely scraping an existence busking in London’s Covent Garden, when he returned to his sheltered accommodation in Tottenham one evening to find a ginger tom on the doorstep.

The moggy seemed as lonely and hopeless as Bowen, who took pity on the animal and began feeding him.

After a local search failed to yield an owner, Bowen took the stray in, an arrangement that filled as much a need in him as in the cat, whom he christened Bob.

After a childhood made difficult by his parents’ divorce and much moving around, including emigration from England to Australia, Bowen had come to London where he played in a rock band and then drifted into a life of drug dependency fuelled by petty crime.

Bob offered Bowen the chance to care for another creature and he slowly and lovingly nursed Bob back to health.

He dug into his tiny income to feed Bob and they settled into a companionable existence whose only inconvenience was Bob’s refusal to use a litter tray and insistence on being walked down the five flights of stairs from the flat to go out to the toilet.

Date night: Joanna Froggatt with her husband 
Steve Parsons/PA

Bob started following him and it became increasingly difficult to shoo him away, especially as there were dangerous roads to be crossed.

One day there was nothing for it but to put Bob on a makeshift lead and take him along. Bob travelled sitting on Bowen’s shoulders.

It was the beginning of a phenomenon as tourists paid to see Bob on his human friends shoulders.

People were amazed at how placidly Bob would sit all day, quite happily watching the world go by while Bowen earned a living.

Bob’s popularity continued when Bowen switched from busking to selling the Big Issue, the magazine produced and sold by homeless people.

It enabled Bowen to make the final push to end his drug dependency, going through the necessary cold turkey to get off heroin substitutes, and to mend broken contacts with his family.

The final result of Bob’s influence came when a literary agent who passed the duo every day and had seen them on YouTube suggested Bowen tell their story in a book.

Bowen’s account of rescuing Bob, and in turn being rescued by the cat’s loyalty and trust, was published in 2012, spending two years in the UK Top 10 bestseller list.

A Street Cat Named Bob is set for UK cinema release on November 4.

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