right|thumb|400px|Command Performance, 1905 at [[Windsor Castle: The Merchant of Venice, performed by Arthur Bourchier's company]]

A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.

Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commissioned theatrical performances, the first Royal Command Performance to bear that name was staged at Windsor Castle in 1848 by order of Queen Victoria. From then on, command performances were frequently staged, often calling upon the leading actors from the London theatres, until the death of Prince Albert in 1861. There were no further command performances until they recommenced in 1881. These included plays, revues, comic operas and other musical theatre. King Edward VII called for several performances each year.

In 1911 a Great "Gala" performance was given by the theatrical profession at His Majesty's Theatre in London in celebration of the coronation of King George V. In 1912, George V and Queen Mary attended an all-star Royal Command Performance at London's Palace Theatre in aid of the Variety Artistes' Benevolent Fund, and the following year it was decided to make the evening an annual event.

1919 saw the first event to be named the Royal Variety Performance, and a variety of entertainment, including music (of all genres), comedy, dance, music-hall and speciality acts were included. The monarch or a senior member of the British Royal attends the event each year, and the event continues as a fundraiser for the Royal Variety Charity. The Royal Variety Performance attracts over 150 million worldwide television viewers annually.

Early history

As long as there has been a monarchy, kings and queens have maintained minstrels and jesters to entertain their courts, and these performances could be called "command performances". The history of the command performance as we recognise it today dates back at least to the time of Queen Elizabeth I, during whose reign the first permanent theatre was built. In addition, Elizabeth built her own theatre where she could watch plays performed by her own company of players. This was formed in 1583 by Edmund Tilney, the then Master of the Revels, and was known as Queen Elizabeth's Men. and The Mikado on 4 September 1891 at Balmoral. Performances of operas by the Royal Opera Company and the Carl Rosa Opera Company were given on several occasions in the 1890s for Victoria. now the Royal Variety Charity. From 1913, it was decided to make this a regular annual 'all-star' event to continue contributing to the fund. The 1913 show was a production of the Dion Boucicault comedy London Assurance at St James's Theatre on 27 June 1913 and raised £1,093. The reason for the name change followed desire from Buckingham Palace that the show should 'clearly reflect all areas of show business popular amongst the masses of the time'. Hence, a variety of entertainment, including music (of all genres), comedy, dance, music-hall and speciality acts, rather than for it be incorrectly perceived as one reflecting the Royal Family's own specific choice of artistes.

King George V became patron of the Royal Variety Charity in 1921 and decreed that the monarch or a senior member of the British Royal family would attend an annual event in aid of the Royal Variety Charity and its care home for elderly entertainers, Brinsworth House, once a year thereafter. This tradition and fundraising event for the Royal Variety Charity, continues to the present day, with the Royal Variety Performance now attracting over 150 million worldwide television viewers, making it the longest running and most successful entertainment show in the world.

See also

  • Royal Variety Performance

References

  • First Royal Command Performance
  • First "Royal Command" Performance Before King Edward VII, The New York Times, 1 December 1901
  • De Cordova, Rudolph. "Command Performances", reprinted from Every Woman's Encyclopaedia