| What A Performance! The Royals & The Movies |
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| Written by Joanne Leyland | |
| Tuesday, 14 November 2006 | |
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Page 4 of 5 
Princess Marina, who was widowed at a tragically early age following the death in wartime of her husband, Prince George (Duke of Kent), always enjoyed the company of stars, counting a number of world famous celebrities amongst her suitors.The glamorous Princess was fortunate to live in an age when royal affairs were deemed very much 'off topic' to the press. It was therefore to be many years — and long after her death — before the wider world became aware of rumours romantically linking the much-loved royal with the likes of Danny Kaye, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and the star of that very first Royal Command Performance, the suave English actor David Niven. Sadly, those days of cinematic mystique and true glamour are long gone, the Royal Film Performance of today often attracting a rather less appealing line-up of wannabe 'stars', the event itself being overtaken by studio manipulation and agents desperate to see their client make the front pages.  When the Queen attended the premiere of Steven Spielberg's Always, Her Majesty was greeted by a host of B and C-list celebrities who had absolutely nothing to do with the film she was about to watch.Despite this being the cinematic version of the Royal Variety Performance, the movie's reals stars, Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter, stayed away from the event, pleading prior commitments. As film director Michael Winner noted: "I was standing two feet away from the line-up and I could hear the Queen asking one person after another: "Are you in the film?" 
In recent times, thanks in part to the arrival of 24 hour news channels which broadcast live from the event, the Royal Film Performance has enjoyed something of a revival, Hollywood stars jetting in from around the world for the honour of rubbing shoulders with the royals. |
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