Old-time Royal Variety performer? (6)
I believe the answer is:
jester
'performer?' is the definition.
(jester is a kind of performer)
'old-time royal variety' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'time' could be 'est' (EST is an example) and 'est' is present in the answer.
'royal' could be 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina) and 'er' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'j' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
(Other definitions for jester that I've seen before include "one entertaining in court" , "Court joker" , "Clown employed to entertain a ruler" , "Court humorist" , "Professional clown of the middle ages" .)