A night out in Salford at the Royal Variety Performance? I'll pass, says Philip

Asking the famously irascible Duke of Edinburgh to travel up the M1 and M6 and back for yet another Royal Variety Performance was always going to be a tough sell.

And with rumours that the 90-year-old has become tired of the annual extravaganza, the prospect of spending several hours in the BBC studios at Salford Quays may have been the final straw.

The Queen is to miss her regular appearance at the event for the first time in decades, with sources claiming she did not want to attend without her husband.    Read Full