Prince William and Kate Middleton enjoyed a glamorous date night Monday! The couple, who will celebrate nine years of marriage next spring, stepped out for the annual Royal Variety Performance at the Palladium Theatre in London. The annual event benefits the Royal Variety Charity, of which the Queen is patron. The funds raised from the show provide aid to hundreds of entertainers throughout the United Kingdom, who need help as a result of difficult times, health issues or old age.
Kate wore an Alexander McQueen black lace gown, while William matched in a regal black suit with a bow tie. Both prior to and after the show, the duke and duchess met with some of the charity members and event performers
At one point during the evening, the royals were playfully introduced by the night’s hosts comedian Rob Beckett and Ramesh Ranganathan, who joked with them about being on a “date night.” As the camera zoomed in on the Royal Box, both William and Kate could be seen laughing. The royal couple appeared to enjoy Ranganathan’s teasing who went on to say that he, like the Cambridges, had three children and assumed that William and Kate thought the same thing when they saw the three of them running into their bedroom each morning: “Why did we do this?”
The Royal Variety Performance dates all the way back to 1912 when King George V and Queen Mary attended a “Royal Command Performance” at the Palace Theatre in London, in support of the Variety Artistes’ Benevolent Fund. The second royal show, described as a “celebration of peace”, was held in 1919 at London’s Coliseum and was the first to be billed a “Royal Variety Performance.”
In the fall of 2018, Prince Harry & Meghan Markle attended the event on behalf of the royal family. According to a royal source confirmed to PEOPLE, they are currently on a six-week hiatus from their royal duties to spend some valuable “family time.”
