Hollywood star Robert De Niro to visit UK to talk to students at the Cambridge Union

The American actor, producer and director Robert De Niro will visit Cambridge University this weekend to talk at The Cambridge Union.

The union prides itself on being the oldest debating society in the world and has a tradition of attracting top names to talk to students.

De Niro, who is 78, is one of Hollywood's top names, having won two Oscars and a Golden Globe Award, and has been described by film critics as one of the best actors of his time.

In the past he has also voiced his political support for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, while on stage at an award ceremony in 2018 he launched a stinging attack on the then-US President Donald Trump.

De Niro will be talking to the Cambridge Union on Sunday. The union said the event would only be open to its members and that it would be on a strictly first-come, first-served basis.

The Cambridge Union debating society has more than 70,000 life members worldwide and is the oldest debating society in the world.

Previous speakers include the Dalai Lama, President Ronald Reagan, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, Prime Ministers Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, and John Major.

Last year the Monty Python star John Cleese said he would "black-list" himself, after a row about a historian being banned from the union for having done an impression of Adolf Hitler during a debate over good taste.