The Royal Variety Performance takes place in a different UK theatre each year. The Queen and The Prince of Wales attend the performance on alternate years.

The proceeds are donated to The Entertainment Artistes’ Benevolent Fund which cares for hundreds of entertainers throughout the UK who need help and assistance as a result of old age, ill-health, or hard times. Brinsworth House, in Twickenham, is the Fund's dedicated nursing home, caring for elderly members of the entertainment profession.

The origins of the Royal Variety Performance date back to 1912, when the present Queen’s grandparents, 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 (the previous name of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund) and its proposed plans to build an extension to its Home for elderly entertainers, Brinsworth House.

This first staging was a lavish occasion, and the theatre was decorated with 3 million roses draped around the auditorium and over the boxes.

In July 1919, the second Royal show was performed and was the first to be billed 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".

In 1955, there were two Royal Variety Performances, one in London and one in Blackpool, where George Formby and Morcambe & Wise performed. This year, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh return to the same Blackpool Opera house, to see Bette Midler, Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg, and Lady Gaga perform.

Visit the Royal Variety Performance's website