Royal Family History – The Televised Royal Variety Show

If you live in the USA, and follow the British Royal Family, you might have seen snippets about the Royal Variety performance on your TV. This week, a royal commentator shared a bit of history about it. Read on for all the details.

The First TV Version

Neil Sean, often rather critical of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, sometimes digs into his diary and drops a bit of history for royal watchers to appreciate. On his Daily News Headlines vlog this Thursday, he did that again. This time, he related the story of how a simple chat led to impresario Bernard Delfont televising the show for the first time.

In 1958, the Royal Variety show needed a manager, and they also wanted it to remain a huge annual event. After they selected Delfont to do it, the televised show arrived in 1960. No doubt it was all very exciting in those days.

How Did Delfont Land The Job?

The rather prestigious job as manager of the charity event landed in the lap of Bernard Delfont, and Sean shared how that happened. Apparently, back in the day, while chatting with the Queen Mother, he managed to mention that he was one of the first people to ever appear on TV.

It sounds like very little now, but in the very early years, when his image appeared on screen, he was paid two pounds. As you can imagine, money had good buying power. Plus, it helped that he knew John Logie Baird, the inventor of television.

The Queen Mother Was Impressed 

Suitably impressed, the Queen Mother thought his experience from the very beginning of TV made him the best candidate for the job.

Neil explained that she said, “If you were there at the very start you’ll know exactly the problems that we’re going to have if we do transfer this to television.” She then added, “We believe that you are the man that can turn this to continued success.”

Well, it was a huge success, and to this day, folks around the world who follow the royal family get to watch the Royal Variety show. Usually, members of the family attend and the income goes to support actors.

Viewers React

People always appreciate a bit of royal family history, so the responses were mostly good. One person said in the comments, “I love these stories from the past that you tell. First you tell these stories/history lessons so well. Second it’s wonderful that you share them with us.”

Here are a few mores responses from the discussion:

• I truly enjoy these fascinating stories you share and I am learning a lot too.
• Thank you Neil love these snippets of wonderful stories of great men in the entertainment [business].
• Thanks for the back story of the Royal Varity Show, Neil. I enjoyed it very much.
• The power behind the throne was also a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry!

What are your thoughts? Do you enjoy hearing stories about the history of the monarchy? Let us know in the comments below, and remember to come back here often for all your royal family news and updates.