Star Wars: The Last Jedi premiere – Princes William and Harry join cast as John Boyega brings whole family to Royal Albert Hall

The Force was strong in London as Star Wars royalty came face-to-face with real royalty at the star-studded premiere of The Last Jedi.

Princes William and Harry were greeted by BB-8 on the red carpet before heading inside the Royal Albert Hall for a screening of the follow-up to The Force Awakens.

The royal siblings, who have cameos as Stormtroopers in the Rian Johnson directed epic, were flying solo without the Duchess of Cambridge and Meghan Markle.

John Boyega and Daisy Ridley, who play Finn and Rey respectively, couldn’t stop smiling as they returned to their hometown for the big event, with Boyega bringing along his whole family.

The Peckham-born star posed alongside his parents Samson and Abigail Boyega before pulling five more relatives onto the red carpet for a photo opportunity.

John, who rose to fame in Episode 7, said he still struggles to deal with the recognition. He said: “I’m not a perfect human being, but when I go out, there is such a positive reaction and it’s nice to make people happy and I don’t know what to do with that. I’ve never lived this kind of life.”

Luke Skywalker star Mark Hamill arrived to huge cheers as he reunited with Ridley to take selfies with, and sign autographs for fans.

Hamill also took the opportunity to pay tribute to the late Carrie Fisher who he hailed as “one of a kind”.

Speaking about the Princess Leia actress, he said: “She was one of a kind obviously. It’s comforting because even though it hit me hard and I don’t know if I’ve come to terms with it, we all felt it and people wherever I go are helping me to deal with it.

“As tough as she acted she had a vulnerability. I criticised her all the time but if someone else did I’d get my back up. She was great, and you’re going to love her in the film.”

Domhnall Gleeson, who plays the villainous General Hux, also paid tribute, saying the times he shared with Fisher on set are the ones he holds dearest.

“The moments I had with Carrie are what I’ll hold,” he said. “She’ll be missed and [The Last Jedi] is a really amazing tribute to her talent.”

The red carpet was packed with stars from the film including Adam Driver, Oscar Isaacs, Kelly Marie Tran, Benicio del Toro, Laura Dern, Anthony Daniels, Jimmy Vee, Joonas Suotamo and Gwendoline Christie who praised Johnson for creating a “truly progressive” film.

She said: “It’s truly progressive. The female scripts are as strong as the male scripts and that’s long overdue and what it does is create an even better film.”

The spectacular event also attracted a host of famous faces from Bruno Tonioli, Simon Pegg, Danny DeVito, Myleene Klass and Strictly Come Dancing finalist Alexandra Burke who attempted to take a Stormtrooper for a twirl.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is slated for cinema release on December 14.