Hollywood Royalty. The 1 big event that brings the monarchy face to face with film stars

They've formed some of the most glamorous film premieres of all time. For the past eight decades, the annual Royal Family Performances have united movie stars and the monarchy on the red carpet in support of the most eagerly anticipated film of the year.

Organised by the Film and Television Charity, proceeds from the annual screenings have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to help those working behind the scenes in film, television and cinema with a range of practical, financial and mental health support.

But they have also provided a highlight of the entertainment social calendar as the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Tom Cruise and Pierce Brosnan mingle with Princess Margaret; Catherine, Princess of Wales, and the late Queen Elizabeth, respectively.

Now a new book,The Royal Film Performance: A Celebration, authorised by Buckingham Palace, delves into the regal glitz and glamour behind the memorable pictures. Authors Gareth Owen and Robert Sellers tell the fascinating stories behind images from 1946 to the present day taken by revered red carpet photographer Harry Myers, who died in 2012.

1956: THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE

Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe made headlines at this event as the two most famous women in the world, from two very different worlds, met for the first time. In the book, Monroe is described as wearing "a gown of gold, Grecian in style, that looked as if it had been sprayed on". She drew huge cheers from the crowd.

The blonde bombshell arrived with her husband, the playwright Arthur Miller. The pair were renting a house on the edge of Great Windsor Park while she filmed the Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier. "Then we are neighbours, how nice," remarked the Queen.

During Monroe's subsequent chat with Princess Margaret, Anthony Quayle (one of the film's stars) butted in to ask whether her HRH might come and see Arthur Miller's new play, A View from the Bridge? It had been banned by The Lord Chamberlain and was being performed in a theatre club. "I hope you will come and see it," said Marilyn. "Well," replied Princess Margaret, "perhaps I might be able to come ... I shall have to see about it." Ever the rebel princess, she did indeed attend a performance.

1957: LES GIRLS

An old-fashioned, light-hearted MGM musical, Les Girls was seen as a good choice for the Royal Performance, especially with the bonus of music and lyrics by Cole Porter.

The crowds gathered outside the Odeon, Leicester Square from midday despite the teeming rain. Queen Elizabeth arrived, accompanied by Prince Philip and Princess Alexandra, and looked dazzling in a white gown decorated with silver sequins and fur trim and a diamond tiara.

But it was her meeting with starlet Jayne Mansfield, the epitome of American showbiz glamour, that captured the headlines as Her Majesty couldn't help but notice Mansfield's tight fitting dress and ample bosom. Mansfield's champagne-coloured floor-length gown was so tight it split down the back and had been hastily stitched up before the meeting. "Your Majesty, you're looking so beautiful," gushed the star before telling her she had "never been so excited in all my life."

1960: THE LAST ANGRY MAN

A faulty lift at Buckingham Palace meant this particular Royal Film Performance nearly didn't have any royalty in attendance at all.

After dining with the Queen and Prince Philip in their private apartments on the first floor of the palace, the Duchess of Kent and Princess Alexandra, escorted by Philip, took a lift down to a waiting car to take them to the Odeon, Leicester Square. The lift was one of those old-fashioned cage lifts and it jerked to a halt between floors.

Philip tried the emergency phone but found it wasn't working. After the royal party shouted for help, servants eventually came running and a mechanic was called. "Someone had to get a handle and wind us down," Philip apparently said. Nevertheless, the Duke of Edinburgh looked calm and collected as he met with Kim Novak and producer and stage show organiser Vivian Cox. A nervous Novak had flown in specially from California, and admitted to being worried about her curtsy.

When Philip reached her, he asked in his usual brusque manner, "Have you been dragged all the way here just for this?" What else could a terrified Kim say but "Yes" as she bobbed awkwardly down.

1961: THE FACTS OF LIFE

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and her husband, the Earl of Snowdon were all in attendance for the showing of this romantic comedy, starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball as married people who have an affair. The film was nominated for five Oscars. Starrings lining up to meet the royals included Max Bygraves, Joan Collins, Adam Faith, Shirley Anne Field, Tony Hancock, Jack Hawkins, Sidney James, Van Johnson and Peter Sellers.

TV cameras covered the event for the first time at the Odeon, Leicester Square, with Nicholas Parsons interviewing the arriving celebrities. The Queen Mother is seen meeting a very young and glamorous Joan Collins and handsome Warren Beatty who were engaged to be married at the time and also spoke with Princess Margaret.

1966: BORN FREE

The Royal Film Performance marked its 20th anniversary in 1966. Queen Elizabeth made her first appearance in four years, arriving with the Duke and Duchess of Kent, "looking resplendent in a frock of pale green lace embroidered with peridots, pale emeralds and iridescent jewels."

Born Free, based on Joy Adamson's best-selling book about a couple who raised an orphaned lion cub in Kenya, proved a popular film choice. The film's stars and real-life husband and wife Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers attended what was the film's world premiere.

"Bill and I were extremely nervous, and I remember worrying that I might fall over as I curtseyed to Her Majesty, but she put us all at ease and was her warm and charming self," said Virginia McKenna. "I have many enduring recollections of that life-changing film, which led to Bill and I dedicating much of our time to helping wild animals in need through our charity, the Born Free Foundation but the Royal Premiere is one I treasure beyond words."

1974: THE THREE MUSKETEERS

The Three Musketeers caused controversy before its opening after its producers cut the film into two halves rather than releasing it as the three-hour epic originally intended. The actors were incensed at having only been paid for just the one film as their original contracts made no mention of a sequel. This resulted in lawsuits being filed for compensation when The Four Musketeers was later released.

This wasn't the only controversy. This Royal Film Performance took place at the height of the "three-day week" energy crisis and the Odeon, Leicester Square was lit up specially for the occasion and the appearance of the Queen Mother for the only time in three months. As the Queen Mother left the auditorium, she went over to the usherettes to ask them if they had seen the film yet. They said they hadn't. "You must - it really is the most enormous fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it," she siad.

The Queen Mother certainly did enjoy herself and is seen throwing her head back and laughing as she chats to comedian Spike Milligan while Christopher Lee looks on.

1985: A PASSAGE TO INDIA

David Lean's award-winning historical drama aimed to boost cinema audiences and promote British filmmaking. John Brabourne, the film-producer husband of Lord Mountbatten's daughter Patricia, became a trustee of the fund and brought with him his latest epic, A Passage to India for the Royal Film Performance.

The royals turned out in great numbers to lend their support including the Queen Mother and Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips and the Prince and Princess of Wales, marking Princess Diana's debut at the event. She dazzled the crowds in an off-the-shoulder emerald-green gown.

Newspapers were also quick to centre on popular TV stars of the day, Michael Brandon and Glynis Barber (aka Dempsey and Makepeace) pretending to have an argument on the red carpet to throw off rumours of a romance. In fact, they married four years later.

2002 DIE ANOTHER DAY

Queen Elizabeth met Pierce Brosnan at the first Royal Film Performance for a Bond movie at this event. It was only the second Bond premiere attended by Her Majesty after You Only Live Twice (1967) 35 years earlier. Breaking with tradition, the screening of Pierce Brosnan's fourth and final outing as Bond demanded a much larger venue than Leicester Square and was relocated to the 5,000-seat Royal Albert Hall.

The venue's exterior was decorated with 54 giant icicles imported from Germany, and which surrounded the building to resemble the "ice palace" of Bond baddie Gustav Graves. Arriving guests graced a 400m red carpet running the length of Kensington Gore, illuminated by 150 floodlights and pyrotechnics and screens and cameras powered by 1,000m of electrical cables.

"This is an outstanding evening - one for the history books," Brosnan remarked. The premiere raised £500,000 for the charity - the most financially successful to date.

2022: TOP GUN: MAVERICK

Keen royal fan Tom Cruise was particularly eager that Prince William and Princess Kate attend his much-anticipated premiere and so were they after word came back from the Palace that flying mad William was equally keen. In fact, William sported special shoes featuring the Top Gun logo on the red carpet.

The authors reveal that according to Cameron Saunders, then executive vice president of marketing and distribution at Paramount across Europe, Cruise wanted to sit next to Kate, "but William wanted to sit next to Tom, so he could "talk planes and stuff". Prince William, of course, had served in the Royal Air Force and a spectacular full-size replica jet was on display outside the cinema.

However the moment from that night that is most remembered and captured in this iconic photograph is when Kate slipped on the red carpet and Tom grabbed her hand to steady her. Meanwhile, Kate and William loved the film but Kate was apparently disappointed that the film had some swearing in it because the royal couple had been hoping to show it to Prince George.

* The Royal Film Performance: A Celebration (The History Press & Flint Books, £30) is out now.