This year’s Royal Variety Performance is notable for a couple of firsts. It is the first time in the event’s 99-year history that it has been held in Salford and the first time in 20 years that it hasn’t been attended by either the Queen or the Prince of Wales. Whether or not these two things are related has been a matter of some conjecture. But it also marks the first outing under ITV1’s exclusive ten-year deal to screen the show, after years of playing tag-team with the BBC.
