The Prince and Princess of Wales attended the Royal Variety
Performance on Wednesday evening, following a tradition that
stretches back to the reign of King George V.
Dressed in a velvet green dress, the princess was visibly
excited to meet Paddington Bear backstage following the performance
from the case of Paddington The Musical.
The bear from Peru had become synonymous with the royals after
appearing in the famous sketch that became such a popular part of
Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Paddington famously took tea at Buckingham Palace with The Queen
during a recorded performance that was played, to the surprise of
millions around the world, at the start of the Platinum Party on
the third day of the Jubilee. The little bear finally got Elizabeth
II to reveal what was in her handbag – marmalade sandwiches.
However, the most moving moment came as the animated character
paused and said “thank you” to Queen Elizabeth II, for
“everything”.
When Elizabeth II died three months later, thousands of people
left Paddington bear toys as tributes, and the Royal Parks had to
ask people to stop leaving marmalade sandwiches as memorials
because they were rotting among the flowers.
William and Kate were at the Royal Albert Hall for the
star-studded show, held every year to raise money for former
performers.
Members of the Royal Family had attended since the show was
established in 1912. The debut had been meant to come a year
earlier, as King George had wanted to hold a Royal Variety show to
mark his coronation in 1911, but a fire at the chosen theatre meant
it had to be postponed. It had been held ever since with royal
support.
This was the sixth Royal Variety Performance attended by the
Prince and Princess of Wales. Their previous appearance was in
2023, which proved to be one of Kate’s last major engagements
before she became ill. The show will be broadcast on television at
a later date.
As well as Paddington The Musical, tars from another West End
show also took to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall, as the cast
of Les Misérables – including Michael Ball, Matt Lucas and Killian
Donnelly – performed in celebration of the hit musical’s 40th
anniversary.
This year’s Royal Variety Performance also included turns by
Jessie J and Laufey.
The event was hosted by comedian Jason Manford.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalcentral.co.uk ’
