Tonight, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were back at The London Palladium to attend the annual Royal Variety Performance.
The Royal Variety Performance has been on the Royal Family’s event calendar since 1912 and takes place every year, either in London or in a theatre around the United Kingdom.
The Duke and Duchess arrive at the Royal Variety Performance at the @LondonPalladium. The annual event raises funds for @RoyalVariety and has been a fixture in the royal calendar for the best part of a century: pic.twitter.com/DoJl8dZMy3
— Emily Nash (@emynash) November 18, 2019
A video of William and Catherine arriving at the London Palladium Theatre.
The Duke of Cambridge is presented with our 2019 programme & The Duchess of Cambridge receiving our winter garden posy of flowers including foliage from Brinsworth House garden, the care home supported by the Royal Variety Charity @KensingtonRoyal #Variety4Charity pic.twitter.com/bQmTXYGmjY
— Royal Variety (@RoyalVariety) November 18, 2019
Another beautiful picture of the couple on arrival.
Upon arrival, the Duchess of Cambridge was presented with a bouquet called ‘Frosty Winter Garden’ that has real flowers & foliage picked from Charity’s care home – The Brinsworth House’s garden.
10 years old Lydia Jones presented the posy to The Duchess.
They met with the star cast of Mary Poppins ahead of the show.
The cast of Mary Poppins included Petula Clark CBE, Zizi Strallen and Charlie Stemp. Rebecca English reported, “William asked where they were performing and Zizi told him it was the Prince Edward Theatre, opening this week. We are doing a show tonight,’ she added, explaining how the cast was racing to their performance after opening the variety show. ‘I love Mary Poppins!’ William exclaimed. Petula Clark told Kate she would have to bring the children to the show, to which she replied: ‘They would love it.”
The annual event was hosted by Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan this year while performer names included the cast of Mary Poppins, Lewis Capaldi, Mabel, Robbie Williams, the cast of Come From Away, and a special collaboration by Emeli Sandé and Manchester’s Bee Vocal choir. Sir Rod Stewart was also scheduled to perform but had to step back due to a sore throat.
The couple took their seats in the royal box where the event began with the National Anthem. From Rebecca English’s Dailymail Story,
The comic pair introduced the royal couple and joked that they were on a ‘date night’ as the camera focused on them laughing and giggling in the Royal Box – William nodding with mock seriousness.
The comedians asked whether they had paid the babysitter to stay ‘until 12 or 1’ – joking: ‘It’s always worth £20 for the extra hour.’
Ranganathan said he, like the Cambridges, had three children and guessed that William and Kate thought the same thing when they saw their three little faces running into their bedroom each morning: ‘Why did we do this?’ The royal couple roared.
The Royal Variety was established in 1908 and its patronage is held by Her Majesty the Queen. The event is hosted in aid of the Royal Variety Charity, formerly the Entertainment Artistes’ Benevolent Fund of which the Queen is the patron. The Queen has attended the performance 39 times during her reign.
The origins of the Royal Variety Performance date back to 1912 when King George V and Queen Mary agreed to attend a ‘Royal Command Performance’ at the Palace Theatre in London, in aid of the Variety Artistes’ Benevolent Fund and its proposed plans to build an extension to its Care Home for elderly entertainers, Brinsworth House. This first staging was a lavish occasion with over 3 million roses draped around the auditorium.
In July 1919, the second Royal show was performed and was the first to be billed as a “Royal Variety Performance”. Held at London’s Coliseum, the show was staged as a ‘celebration of peace’ and, as the official announcement expressed it, “had been commanded by the King to show his appreciation of the generous manner in which artistes of the variety stage had helped the numerous funds connected with the war”.
The Royal Variety Charity assists those who’ve worked professionally in the entertainment industry and need help. The charity strives to support all those, both young and old, who’ve worked on the stage, in the wings, in front of a camera, or behind it, as well as all those who have spent their lives working in the numerous support industries dedicated to entertainment. The show is organized every year to help entertainers throughout the UK who are facing hard times and need help and assistance as a result of old age, ill health, or hard times.
The Charity owns and manages its own residential and nursing care home for elderly entertainers, Brinsworth House in Twickenham, and also offers a nationwide grant scheme to assist those living in their own homes wherever they reside in the UK. Plans to improve Brinsworth House are currently underway with a fundraising campaign.
It’s a little-known fact that thousands of people who work in the entertainment industry face desperate problems each day. Only the top 4% (* 2015 UK survey / AC Nielson) of those who work in the entertainment industry are ‘above-average UK earners’. The vast majority live from ‘job-to-job‘, from ‘season-to-season’ – many spending long periods with no work at all & with little ability to make any plans for their futures, or providing themselves with any security should they have an accident, or fall ill.
It’s so ironic that many entertainers and those working behind the scenes in entertainment spend much of their working lives raising funds for other people’s charities, but giving little thought to their own future, security, or situation. Whether it be as a result of old age, ill-health or financial hardship, the Royal Variety Charity is here to help.
The Royal Variety Charity is the organiser and beneficiary of the annual Royal Variety Performance. Now viewed by over 152 million television viewers worldwide, making it the most successful and longest-running entertainment show in the world.
A lovely moment of The Duke and Duchess enjoying the performances.
After the performance, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met the performers, hosts and ITV executives backstage.
The Duchess met six-year-old Aurelia from an acrobatic group whom she told that George and Charlotte love doing Carthweel at home. Continuing from Rebecca’s story,
William was left in stitches was he was jokingly handed a ‘commemorative’ tea towel by the show’s hosts, comedians Rob Beckett and Ramesh Ranganthan, which had their faces on instead of his and Kate’s. The prince roared with laughter and said he would try to find something to do with it.
Beckett said: ‘Maybe you know someone who might want it. ‘ ‘Yeah, the dog will love it,’ joked William, who told the the two men that hopefully they could relax now, When Kate was given a bouquet of flowers by two youngsters who star in the new Mary Poppins musical, Nuala Peberby, 14, and Fred Wilcox, nine, the prince told them: ‘How come I get a dodgy tea towel and she gets some flowers?’
Nuala revealed afterwards that Kate had told her that George and Charlotte – particularly her daughter – love performing and putting on little shows at home. ‘She said that her children love performing at home, particularly Charlotte,’ she said. ‘She told us how lucky we were to be on stage in the West End and asked how we managed to do it with all our school work. I can’t tell you how exciting it was to meet them.
Before leaving Catherine was presented with another posy.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leaving the Theatre after the evening.
A video of the day.
For the evening, The Duchess of Cambridge was wearing a black Alexander McQueen gown. The floor-sweeping lace gown is a new addition to Catherine’s wardrobe. The design of the maxi gown is the classic Duchess style. The silhouette of the dress was similar to her DVF Zarita Gown. While giving the same illusion as her Temperley London Amoret Gown.
The lace gown with nude underlay featured a sweetheart neckline at the front and a deep back neckline. it had black velvet detailing at the neckline and waistline. The sheer sleeves with slight puffs gave romantic vibes to the outfit. The fitted bodice gown was cinched at the waist and had a flared skirt. The fabric was seen in many of the label’s pieces including this peplum dress.
Telegraph’s Tamara Abraham gave some wonderful words about the outfit,
Lace is timeless, but the pattern also creates a sense of drama and helps her stand out. Kate, no stranger to complex dress codes and royal protocol understands that it’s her job to be identifiable – lace helps her do that while sticking to black tie. It’s likely a tactic learned from the Queen, who is said to always wear bright hues so that she can be easily spotted by the crowds who gather to see her.
Catherine paired the outfit with her Erdem Floral Hoop Earrings that she first wore in October last year for a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The Duchess was carrying her black Jimmy Choo Celeste Velvet Clutch debuted at the Royal Festival of Remembrance in November 2018. She also owns the same model in red, blue and beige.
It looked like The Duchess of Cambridge was wearing her black Jimmy Choo Romy 100 Pumps in velvet that she first wore at the Annual Royal Remembrance Festival in November 2018.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the event for the first time in 2014.
William and Catherine attended the event last in 2017, The Duchess was pregnant with Prince Louis and when the couple attended in 2014 they were expecting Princess Charlotte.
We will never forget that 2017’s performance as The Duke of Cambridge was asked to pretend to gallop like a horse in the Royal Box!
In other news, last week it was reported that The Duchess of Cambridge held a private meeting with BBC executives about a TV project. It came out that The Duchess of Cambridge will appear in Mary Berry’s Christmas special on the BBC. The Duchess met Mary Berry through her royal work. The duo was seen having fun at the opening of Catherine’ Back to Nature Garden’ in Surry.
Next, we will see the royal couple on Friday at the Tusk Conservation Awards.
