Hathaway is Hollywood's golden girl at Dark Knight Rises European premiere

Oscar-nominated actress Anne Hathaway lived up to her reputation as Hollywood's golden girl in a gold floor-length Gucci gown at the European premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in London.

She smiled at photographers as she arrived at the film's second premiere at the BFI Imax in Waterloo.

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 last night's two premieres at the Odeon cinema in 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!"

On the red carpet outside the BFI Imax, director Nolan said Bale made the perfect Batman.

"He has incredible dedication and focus, just like Bruce Wayne has," he said.

"You see that in Christian's eyes and it lets him present a really credible portrait of a self-created superhero, just the self-discipline and incredible focus."

Nolan said of working on the big-budget blockbuster: "It's an incredible thrill to make something on this scale, to watch the technical finish come together over the many months we've worked on it."

Prince Harry also made an appearance on the red carpet.

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

PA