Tom Fletcher hopes for royal visit as Paddington The Musical opens in West End

Tom Fletcher invited Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to his musical adaptation of Paddington as the show opened in the West End.

The McFly star has penned the music and lyrics to the eagerly anticipated stage show, which has its world premiere at the Savoy Theatre on Sunday.

The Prince and Princess of Wales recently met Paddington Bear from the show at the Royal Variety Performance and Fletcher said he hopes the royal couple will bring their children along to see the full production.

Speaking after the opening night performance, Fletcher told the Press Association: “I did say to them that they should come and see the show and they said they thought the kids would really enjoy it so who knows, maybe we will have a little royal visit at some point.”

The opening night performance, which follows a month of previews, was met with a standing ovation by a star-studded audience that included actors David Tennant, Dame Joan Collins, Cush Jumbo and Jamie Dornan.

Fletcher, who was in the audience with his wife, podcast host and I’m A Celebrity winner Giovanna Fletcher, said the show has been a labour of love.

Dressed in a shirt emblazoned with orange slices, in honour of Paddington’s love of marmalade, he told PA: “I can’t even put into words what it means to me.

“We both met in theatre school at the age of eight, our whole childhoods were about musicals and musical theatre so it means so much to me.

“The band (McFly) just happened and took over my life for 23 years, but this feels like coming back to what I love and have such a passion for and the fact that they trusted me to write the songs for this, I feel so lucky.

“I know every songwriter in the world would have loved this opportunity and I just really hope I’ve done Michael Bond’s amazing story and these characters justice.”

Fletcher also said the show’s message of inclusivity and welcoming to immigrants has become more significant over the five years since it was first conceived.

He said: “It was massively important and what was really interesting was that seems to become more and more at the front of our story as time went on.

“Five years ago that wasn’t really the story we were writing and it just naturally evolved that way and it just led us into that message.

“One of the last lyrics that I wrote on the show was only about a month ago and it was Mr Gruber delivering the line “kindness isn’t ever complicated” and that for me just sums up what this show is about.

“Whatever you feel about the things that we talk about in the show, the one thing that Paddington stands for is kindness and it’s never difficult to be kind and I feel so lucky to be part of a show putting that message out into the world.”

The couple share three sons and Giovanna said she cannot wait to bring them, adding: “They saw more of it during the process than I did. They talk about it a lot and they totally grasp what it is and what Paddington is about and why it’s important and their understanding will only get deeper as they get older.”

The musical is based on the book A Bear Called Paddington, by Michael Bond, as well as the 2014 film Paddington, which featured the voice of Ben Whishaw.

In the new show, with a book by Jessica Swale, Paddington Bear is voiced off-stage by performer and remote puppeteer James Hameed, while actress Arti Shah embodies the character on stage.

Among the other cast members are Amy Ellen Richardson as Mrs Brown, Adrian Der Gregorian as Mr Brown, Brenda Edwards as Tanya and the voice of Aunt Lucy and Doctor Who star Bonnie Langford as Mrs Bird.

Paddington The Musical is now booking at the Savoy Theatre.