Kate and William’s big night out! Princess beams before belting out the National Anthem as Jason Manford takes the reins of the Royal Variety Show
Princess Kate was all smiles as Jason Manford took the reins of the Royal Variety Show.
The 43-year-old princess, who announced she was cancer-free in January, looked dazzling as she walked the Royal Albert Hall red carpet in a gorgeous dark green velvet gown.
Despite being filmed in November, The Royal Variety Performance airs on ITV tonight at 7pm as the countdown to Christmas continues.
Kate paired her delightfully festive dress with matching Manolo Blahnik heels and diamond accessories from Cartier, but the high heels didn’t stop the mother-of-three from bending over gracefully to greet the furriest guest of the night.
She and Prince William could be seen entering the performance and singing the national anthem to kick off the performances.
It comes after a difficult week for the Royal family, following the release of a trove of 300,000 documents dubbed the Epstein Files; one was a document depicting Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles last month, sprawled across the laps of five elegantly dressed women.
This year, in addition to performances by artists such as Paddington: The Musical and Westlife, the 40th anniversary show of the West End and Paris cast of Les Miserables will take place, with more than 400 artists taking part.
Jessie J will also take to the stage to sing her new track ‘I’ll Never Know Why’ from her upcoming album.
Comedian Jason Manford started the show with a few jokes about his kids being middle class and him being working class.
He joked that he created ‘monsters’ who refused to ‘chop the avocado’ because it was hot but were actually soft peas – luckily the Princess of Wales laughed at this.
At one point, he also made fun of them for wanting ‘dough’ at the picnic and laughing at houses ‘sticking together’.
She and Prince William could be seen entering the performance and singing the national anthem to kick off the performances
William was dapper in an evening gown as the couple stepped out for a rare joint ‘black tie’ event hosted by comedian Jason Manford.
The 43-year-old princess, who announced she was cancer-free in January, looked dazzling as she walked the Royal Albert Hall red carpet in a gorgeous dark green velvet gown.
Kate paired her delightful festive dress with matching Manolo Blahnik heels, but the high heels didn’t stop the mother-of-three from gracefully bending over to greet the furriest guest of the night.
The princess was also seen sharing an emotional moment with Jessie J as they discussed their individual cancer battles.
This year’s event saw William and Kate join a host of famous faces, including Stephen Fry, at the Royal Albert Hall for the annual charity event.
The variety show is family-oriented and features acts from music, dance, comedy and other specialties.
Footage ahead of the event showed the Princess sweetly petting a dog at the feet of an attendee, appearing to forget that cameras were pointed at her.
The princess also shared an emotional moment with Jessie J as they discussed their individual cancer battles.
While Kate revealed earlier this year that she was in remission from an undisclosed form of cancer, the 37-year-old pop star underwent mastectomy surgery in June as part of her breast cancer treatment.
Jessie, who continues to receive cancer treatment and had to cancel her US tour due to surgery, recently appeared on Good Morning America and talked about how she broke protocol to hug Kate at the Royal Variety Performance.
Speaking to host Maggie Rulli on December 5, Jessie recalled her conversation with the Princess.
‘He just said, ‘Thank you, I know you’re going through a difficult time.’ I said, ‘I know you are too,'” the singer said.
‘I just said, ‘I want to acknowledge cancer survivors, from mother to mother, from cancer survivor to cancer survivor. I see you and I feel you. Can I hug you?”
Traditionally people are not allowed to touch a member of the Royal Family; however, Kate showed her care and affection by allowing Jessie to hold her.
Jason Manford said of his hosting duties: ‘The Royal Variety Performance is always such a fantastic night, so I’m really pleased to be asked back as presenter. The last time I did this was in 2020, if you remember, it was during the pandemic. I had a virtual audience… It was like playing a concert in front of Curry’s window!..
‘Nothing says show business more pleasant than being interrupted by someone who accidentally left their microphone on while eating chips. So I’m so excited to see some real-life human faces in the audience this time!’
