In 1877, Kate Santley "seems to have acquired the head lease."
She controlled the theatre for nearly 30 years.
Carte joined forces with Santley in January 1877 to present Lischen and Fritzen, Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, and Carte's own operetta, Happy Hampstead written with his secretary, Frank Desprez.
Later that year, the First Chief Officer of the London Fire Brigade strongly recommended that the theatre be closed.
Santley had the theatre rebuilt, hiring architect Thomas Verity, who provided additional exits, and it reopened in 1883, with Santley receiving praise for the renovations.
Many of the productions in these years were opera-bouffes adapted from the French.
M. L. Mayer, formerly of the Gaiety Theatre, staged twice-yearly seasons of plays in French.
The Coquelins and other luminaries of the Comédie-Française appeared here in the 1880s, when the Royalty was 'the recognized home of the Parisian drama.'
The opening of Shaftesbury Avenue and of larger new theatres in that neighbourhood, including the Lyric Theatre and the Apollo Theatre, drew audiences away from the Royalty, and in the 1890s the Royalty was not prospering.

In 1891, the theatre started a policy of modern drama.
Ibsen's Ghosts premièred, to predictable outrage, at the theatre, in a single private London performance on 13 March 1891.
The Lord Chamberlain's Office censorship was avoided by the formation of a subscription-only Independent Theatre Society, which included Thomas Hardy and Henry James among its members.
Again, for the Society, George Bernard Shaw premièred Widowers' Houses, his first play, here the following year.
When the theatre finally had a great success, with Brandon Thomas’s play Charley's Aunt in 1892, its popularity led to its transference after only a month to the larger Globe Theatre.

In 1895–96 the Royalty's manager was Arthur Bourchier, and the theatre underwent another renovation, by architect Walter Emden.
Bourchier produced, among other plays, The Chili Widow, an adaptation of his own that ran for over 300 nights.
In 1899, the first production of the Incorporated Stage Society took place with the first performance of Shaw's You Never Can Tell.
In 1900–01 Mrs Patrick Campbell hired the theatre and staged a succession of contemporary plays in which she starred, and in 1903–04 Hans Andresen and Max Behrend presented a successful season of German theatre.
Also in 1904, the newly founded Irish National Theatre Society gave plays by W. B. Yeats and, in 1905, it presented an early performance of Synge's first play, The Shadow of the Glen.
In addition, Philip Carr's Mermaid Society produced Elizabethan and Jacobean plays.
In 1877, Kate Santley "seems to have acquired the head lease." She controlled the theatre for nearly 30 years. Carte joined forces with Santley in January 1877 to present Lischen and Fritzen, Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, and Carte's own operetta, Happy Hampstead written with his secretary, Frank Desprez. Later that year, the First Chief Officer of the London Fire Brigade strongly recommended that the theatre be closed. Santley had the theatre rebuilt, hiring architect Thomas Verity, who provided additional exits, and it reopened in 1883, with Santley receiving praise for the renovations. Many of the productions in these years were opera-bouffes adapted from the French. M. L. Mayer, formerly of the Gaiety Theatre, staged twice-yearly seasons of plays in French. The Coquelins and other luminaries of the Comédie-Française appeared here in the 1880s, when the Royalty was 'the recognized home of the Parisian drama.' The opening of Shaftesbury Avenue and of larger new theatres in that neighbourhood, including the Lyric Theatre and the Apollo Theatre, drew audiences away from the Royalty, and in the 1890s the Royalty was not prospering.
In 1891, the theatre started a policy of modern drama. Ibsen's Ghosts premièred, to predictable outrage, at the theatre, in a single private London performance on 13 March 1891. The Lord Chamberlain's Office censorship was avoided by the formation of a subscription-only Independent Theatre Society, which included Thomas Hardy and Henry James among its members. Again, for the Society, George Bernard Shaw premièred Widowers' Houses, his first play, here the following year. When the theatre finally had a great success, with Brandon Thomas’s play Charley's Aunt in 1892, its popularity led to its transference after only a month to the larger Globe Theatre.
In 1895–96 the Royalty's manager was Arthur Bourchier, and the theatre underwent another renovation, by architect Walter Emden. Bourchier produced, among other plays, The Chili Widow, an adaptation of his own that ran for over 300 nights. In 1899, the first production of the Incorporated Stage Society took place with the first performance of Shaw's You Never Can Tell. In 1900–01 Mrs Patrick Campbell hired the theatre and staged a succession of contemporary plays in which she starred, and in 1903–04 Hans Andresen and Max Behrend presented a successful season of German theatre. Also in 1904, the newly founded Irish National Theatre Society gave plays by W. B. Yeats and, in 1905, it presented an early performance of Synge's first play, The Shadow of the Glen. In addition, Philip Carr's Mermaid Society produced Elizabethan and Jacobean plays.
Royalty Theatre