For only the second time in 61 years there will be no Royal Film Performance this year after the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall pulled out of a planned charity screening of Brick Lane.

Officially the royal gala has been dropped because of a diary clash. However, controversy surrounding the filming of Monica Ali’s bestselling novel has also played a part in the decision, with Clarence House concerned that the gala might become a target for protests.

The book tells the story of a Bangladeshi woman’s journey of self-discovery in the East End of London but shooting on location around the real Brick Lane in Tower Hamlets was disrupted by Bangladeshi groups who attacked the book, claiming that it portrayed their community as backward and uneducated.

Despite this, the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF), which helps to organise the screening, lined the film up for the Royal Film Performance slot when it became clear that the favoured choice, The Golden Compass (based on the first part of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy) would not be ready in time.

No formal announcement has been made but for several weeks it had been expected that the Prince and Duchess would attend the British premiere of Brick Lane on October 29.

A spokesman for Clarence House told The Times that the plan had collapsed because of the film’s subject matter as well as the royal couple’s busy schedule.

“Obviously there has been quite a lot of controversy about that film which everyone was aware of,” he said. “The appropriateness of the film chosen is important but so is the date. It is a mixture of both reasons.”

David Murrell, president of the CTBF, said that he hoped to organise a replacement Royal Film Performance, attended by the Prince of Wales, in the spring. Otherwise the hundreds of thousands of pounds that the event raises for people working in the film and television industry would be lost for this financial year.

“They have offered an alternative date early in the new year,” he said. “It’s just like a dinner party: something hasn’t worked out so you rearrange it. You don’t feel happy about it. You are obviously disappointed but you get back on track.

“You can’t have a Royal Film Performance without the Royal Family present.”

The Royal Film Performance first took place in 1946 when A Matter of Life and Death, starring David Niven, was chosen.

It has been held every year since, apart from 1958, with Prince Charles and the Queen alternating their attendance in recent years. Last year the Queen and Prince Philip attended the premiere of the James Bond film Casino Royale.

Brick Lane tells the story of Nazneen, played by Tannishtha Chatterjee, a young girl from a village in Bangladesh who is sent to London for an arranged marriage. For 18 years she submits to a claustrophobic life of drudgery in a council flat off Brick Lane. Her life then changes out of all recognition when she falls in love with a local garments delivery man.

Sarah Gavron, the film’s director, told Variety: “The cancellation of the Royal Film Performance is indeed a real shame. The cast and crew of the film were excited at the recognition for their work and are now understandably disappointed.

“The clear message from audiences once they have seen the film is that it is absolutely not disrespectful or controversial in any way. None of those elements cited by the minority of protesters during the production period appear in the film.

“We are confident that, as British audiences get the opportunity to see this film, they will see it for what it is – a moving and contemporary story of love, cultural difference and the strength of the human spirit.”

The disappointment felt by those connected to Brick Lane has been lifted by the news that the film will now get an unexpected British premiere at the Times BFI London Film Festival on Friday, October 26.

“I am delighted that the film will be in the London Film Festival,” Ms Gavron said. “It is a film made and set in London, that embraces everything London is today. There isn’t a more appropriate place for it to premiere.”

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