Andrew Lloyd Webber introduces Stephen Ward at the Royal Variety Performance 2013

Last night, the London Palladium, the world’s most famous variety theatre, played host to a Grammy Award winner, a BAFTA Award winning Dame, BRIT and MOBO Award winners and Olympic champions at this year’s Royal Variety Performance 2013. The show was compered by comedian John Bishop with their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in attendance.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, owner and custodian of the Palladium, introduced an exclusive performance from his new musical Stephen Ward. Alex Hanson, who plays Stephen Ward the man at the centre of the “Profumo affair“, and Charlotte Spencer, who plays Christine Keeler, dazzled the audience with an exclusive performance of “This Side of the Sky”, sung for the first time in full costume with set designs from the show.

In his introduction, Andrew explained that the song takes place in the grounds of Cliveden, the home of the Astor family. Stephen Ward has taken Christine Keeler to his cottage by the river Thames where he sketches her and on that idyllic summer afternoon, the biggest scandal of the 1960s was born….

Twitter came alive after their performance, with some even arguing that Stephen Ward is “a million classes ahead” of other new West End shows on the horizon.

Following the show, our two leads joined Andrew to meet HRH The Prince of Wales as seen in these exclusive photos from the event!

You can watch the full Royal Variety Performance on ITV1 on Monday 9th December 2013 from 7:30 pm.