The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to attend the Royal Variety Performance.

William and Kate, who is four months pregnant with their third child, are to watch an array of artists including James Blunt, Louis Tomlinson, Paloma Faith and Seal at the evening gala hosted by Miranda Hart at the London Palladium.

The event is held in aid of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, of which the Queen is patron.

The Royal Variety Performance dates back to 1912 when King George V and Queen Mary agreed to attend a Royal Command Performance at the Palace Theatre in London, in aid of the Variety Artistes' Benevolent Fund and its proposed plans to build an extension to its Brinsworth House home for elderly entertainers.

A second royal show was performed in July 1919 and billed as a celebration of peace.

It became an annual event at the suggestion of George V in 1921, when the King decreed that "the monarch or a senior member of the Royal Family, would attend an annual performance, in aid of Brinsworth House and the Royal Variety Charity, once a year thereafter".

This was to demonstrate the Royal family's "love and support for the entertainment industry and its associated charity".