[2] The evening's performance is presented as a live variety show, usually from a theatre in London and consists of family entertainment that includes comedy, music, dance, magic and other speciality acts.

This was held in the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary.

Top performers included Vesta Tilley, Sir George Robey, David Devant, Anna Pavlova, Harry Lauder and Cecilia Loftus.

Her act was deemed too risqué and her three public, unsuccessful marriages were thought to make her unfit to perform in front of royalty.

The Beatles appeared at the 1963 show, when John Lennon delivered the famous line: For our last number I'd like to ask your help: Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands?

In 1935 the Royal Variety Performance was held in the Silver Jubilee year of King George V and Queen Mary.

There have been two Royal Scottish Variety Performances, both attended by Queen Elizabeth II, and presented by Howard & Wyndham Ltd in Glasgow's Alhambra Theatre, which Sir Alfred Butt had opened, in 1958 and 1963.

[3] The Children's Royal Variety Performance was devised by entertainer Rod Hull in 1981[9] and took place in London until 1994 in aid of NSPCC.

In place of the traditional show, a special programme called Thirty Years of the Royal Variety Performance aired on BBC One on 29 December 1990.

It was hosted by Bruce Forsyth and took a look back at the BBC's television broadcasts of the programme over 30 years, with clips from the archives.

In 2018 the show was hosted by comedian Greg Davies and performed six months after the marriage of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex who attended it with his new wife.

[11] This year's aftershow party and banquet was held with entertainment from magicians, such as Jay & Joss and popular band, The Masqueraders.

The performance is broadcast on television throughout the world and is considered by many to be a tradition of the Christmas and New Year holiday season, particularly within the 56 countries of the Commonwealth of Nations.

[16][17] ITV is contracted by the Royal Variety Charity for TV production and in the UK is the sole broadcaster, having shared that responsibility with the BBC between 1960 and 2010.