Meryl Streep planted a huge kiss on BAFTAs host Stephen Fry after he took a swipe at Donald Trump over his comments about the Hollywood actress.

The Norfolk actor returned to the Royal Albert Hall to host the star-studded event and used his opening monologue to make a dig at the US President.

He said: 'I look down on row after row at the most overrated people in the planet, in their beautiful borrowed gowns.'

It comes after President Trump referred to Streep as 'one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood' and in later tweets called her a 'Hillary flunky' after the actress made an anti-Trump speech at the Golden Globes.

Fry then praised Street directly in his speech. He said: 'She's one of the greatest actresses of all time - only a blithering idiot would think otherwise.'

The Kingdom-actor then walked down the stage and the pair shared a friendly hug and kiss.

He also joked that the awards were chosen by 'the Russians'.

Last year Fry was subject to backlash following the 'bag lady' joke he made about costume designer Jenny Beavan leading him to temporarily delete his Twitter account.

Away from the politics upbeat musical La La Land triumphed over gritty dramas in the awards.

MORE: Ex-Norwich University of the Arts student Pete Middleton misses out on BAFTA awardThe film picked up five of the 11 prizes for which it was nominated - including best film, top director for Damien Chazelle and leading actress for Emma Stone.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were special guests among the stars of the big screen braving a chilly London evening to celebrate the great and good of the film industry.

Critically-acclaimed La La Land, the frontrunner for the Oscars later this month, added awards for cinematography and original music to its collection.

Ken Loach's hard-edged film about the benefits system in the UK, I, Daniel Blake was the first winner of the night, for outstanding British film award.

Britain's Dev Patel scooped the supporting actor prize for Lion, while US star Viola Davis won the supporting actress title for her role in Fences.

Leading actor went to Casey Affleck for Manchester By The Sea, which also won original screenplay for its writer and director Kenneth Lonergan.

EE's Rising Star award, the only one to be voted for by the public, was given to Spider-Man: Homecoming actor Tom Holland.