The “Royal Film Performance” is a charity film premiere hosted by The Film and TV Charity (Formerly the Cinematograph Trade Benevolent Fund, then the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund). This event is attended by a senior royal/couple (usually the Monarch or Heir). Ticket sales for the event go to the charity, which supports those in the UK film industry.
Not every film premiere attended by the Royals is a “Royal Film Performance,” as that is a trademark of The Film and TV Charity.
The first “Royal Command Film Performance” was held in 1946 with the premiere of “A Matter of Life and Death.” The event was attended by King George VI, HM Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), Princess Elizabeth (Later Queen Elizabeth II), and Princess Margaret.
Dress Code:
The dress code has varied over the decades. Today, the dress code in usually black tie, evening dress. Prior to 1980s, we often saw White/Back Tie with Tiara and Honors.
King Charles’s Reign
| # | Year | Film | Royal | Other/ Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | 2030 | – | – | – |
| – | 2029 | – | – | – |
| – | 2028 | – | – | – |
| – | 2027 | – | – | – |
| 73 | Sept 2026 | Digger | Prince William | – |
| 72 | Nov 2024 |
Gladiator II | King Charles | Queen Camilla canceled as she was recovering from a chest infection. |
| – | 2023 | Royal Film Performance canceled by charity due to the actors’ strike and writers’ strike. | ||
Queen Elizabeth II’s Reign
We have contacted the charity as there is a discrepancy in the numbering.
| # | Year | Film | Royal | Other/ Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | May 2022 | Top Gun: Maverick | Prince William & Duchess Kate* | Raised £185K, the highest amount to date. |
| 2010s | ||||
| 70 | Dec 2019 |
1917 | Prince Charles & Duchess Camilla | |
| 2016-2018 | No Royal Film Performances were held, due to “changes in the organization.” | |||
| Oct 2015 |
Spectre | Prince William, Duchess Kate*, and Prince Harry | ||
| Feb 2015 |
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Prince Charles & Duchess Camilla | ||
| Dec 2013 |
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom | Prince William & Duchess Kate* | ||
| Dec 2012 (65th) |
The Hobbit | Prince William | Duchess Kate* was unable to attend as she was suffering from acute morning sickness. | |
| Nov 2011 |
Hugo | Prince Charles & Duchess Camilla | ||
| 2000s | ||||
| Nov 2010 | The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader | Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip | ||
| Nov 2009 | The Lovely Bones | Prince Charles & Duchess Camilla | ||
| Nov 2008 | A Bunch of Amateurs | Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip | ||
| Feb 2008 | The Other Boleyn Girl | Prince Charles & Duchess Camilla | ||
| Nov 2006 | Casino Royale | Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip | ||
| 2005 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Prince Charles & Duchess Camilla | ||
| Nov 2004 | Ladies in Lavender | Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip | ||
| Nov 2003 | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | Prince Charles | ||
| Nov 2002 |
Die Another Day | Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip | ||
| Nov 2000 |
How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Queen Elizabeth | ||
| # | Year | Film | Royal | Other/ Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | ||||
| Jul 1999 | Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace | Prince Charles | ||
| 1998 | The Parent Trap | Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip | ||
| 1997 | Titanic | Prince Charles | ||
| 1996 (50th) |
True Blue | |||
| 1995 | French Kiss | |||
| 1994 | Miracle on 34th Street | Queen Elizabeth | ||
| 1993 | The Man Without a Face | |||
| 1992 | Chaplin | |||
| 1991 | Hot Shots! | |||
| 1990 | Always | |||
| 1980s | ||||
| 1989 | Madame Sousatzka | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret | ||
| 1988 | Empire of the Sun | |||
| 1987 | 84 Charing Cross Road | Queen Mother, Prince Charles, Princess Diana | ||
| 1986 | White Nights | |||
| 1985 | A Passage to India | Queen Mother, Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Princess Anne | ||
| 1984 | The Dresser | Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip | ||
| 1983 | Table for Five | |||
| 1982 | Evil Under the Sun | Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip | ||
| 1981 | Chariots of Fire | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret | ||
| Mar 1980 | Kramer vs. Kramer | Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip | ||
| 1970s | ||||
| 1979 | California Suite | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret | ||
| 1978 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | |||
| Mar 1977 | Silver Streak | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra | ||
| Mar 1976 | The Slipper and the Rose | Queen Mother, Princess Alexandra | ||
| Mar 1975 | Funny Lady | Queen Elizabeth | ||
| Mar 1974 | The Three Musketeers | Queen Mother | ||
| Mar 1973 | Lost Horizon | Queen Elizabeth | ||
| Mar 1972 | Mary, Queen of Scots | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon | ||
| Mar 1971 (25th) |
Love Story | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Prince William of Gloucester | ||
| Feb 1970 | Anne of the Thousand Days | |||
| 1960s | ||||
| Feb 1969 | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon, Princess Alexandra, Prince Michael of Kent | ||
| Mar 1968 | Romeo and Juliet | Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince Charles | ||
| Feb 1967 | The Taming of the Shrew | Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon | ||
| Mar 1966 | Born Free | Queen Elizabeth, the Duke and Duchess of Kent | ||
| Feb 1965 | Lord Jim | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon, Prince William of Gloucester | ||
| Feb 1964 | Move Over, Darling | Prince Philip | ||
| Mar 1963 | Sammy Going South | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon, Princess Alexandra, Angus Ogilvy | ||
| Feb 1962 | West Side Story | Queen Elizabeth | ||
| Feb 1961 | The Facts of Life | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Lord Snowdon | ||
| Mar 1960 | The Last Angry Man | Prince Philip, Princess Marina, Princess Alexandra | ||
| 1950s | ||||
| Feb 1959 | The Horse’s Mouth | Queen Mother, Princess Margaret | ||
| Nov 1957 | Les Girls | Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Princess Alexandra | ||
| Oct 1956 | The Battle of the River Plate | Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, Earl Mountbatten | ||
| Oct 1955 | To Catch a Thief | Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip | ||
| Nov 1954 | Beau Brummell | Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Princess Margaret | ||
| Oct 1953 | Rob Roy | Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Princess Margaret | ||
| Oct 1952 | Because You’re Mine | Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Princess Margaret | ||
King George VI Reign
Known until 1948 as the Royal Command Film Performance,
| # | Year | Film | Royal | Other/ Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1946 | A Matter of Life and Death | King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Princess Elizabeth Princess Margaret |
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