[1] After the Empire closed in 2020, it opened after refurbishment as the Royal Cinema in July 2024.

The architect was Cecil Clavering of the Harry Weedon partnership.

The listing text describes that the foyer, staircase and auditorium are "each defined as a separate block in a complex, carefully massed and expressionistic composition" inspired by the Titania-Palast in Berlin, built in 1928.

[1] The cinema opened on 18 April 1936; the first film shown was First a Girl.

From April 1972 there were three screens: one was viewed from the balcony, and two, each seating 132, were created in the rear stalls below.