Kate Middleton hints at another piano performance

With the countdown to Christmas Eve officially on, Kensington Palace has sent royal enthusiasts into a frenzy after sharing a cryptic new social media teaser. The image suggests that the Princess of Wales may be preparing to reprise her famous role at the keys for this year’s Royal Carols: Together at Christmas.

As the royal family prepares to gather at Westminster Abbey, all eyes will be on the ITV broadcast at 7.25pm to see if Kate has one more musical gift in store for the nation. 

The Princess of Wales first demonstrated her musical talents on Christmas Eve in 2021, where she accompanied Tom Walker on the piano as he performed his poignant new song ‘For Those Who Can’t Be Here’ during the programme. Tom has since described his and the royal’s duet as a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

“I thought she absolutely smashed the performance; it’s not easy to just jump behind a piano with a bunch of musicians you’ve never played with before and record live takes to camera, but she completely nailed it,” the Scottish singer said, according to ITV. 

Kate’s musical background

Kate played piano and the flute as a child, reaching Grade 5 in both singing and music theory. Daniel Nicholls, her piano music teacher from the ages of 11 to 13, previously said in 2011: “I don’t think she was ever going to be a concert pianist.” 

“She was absolutely lovely, a really delightful person to teach the piano,” he added to the Evening Standard. “I actually taught the whole family except Mike – Carole, Pippa and James, and again they were just absolutely lovely people, normal piano pupils.” 

The Princess reportedly played the flute until the age of 18 and played in the chamber orchestra and a group called the Tootie-Flooties while at St Andrew’s Prep School in Pangbourne. 

Kate’s second public piano performance came in 2023, when she appeared in a pre-recorded segment for the opening sequence of the Eurovision Song Contest. The instrumental piece performed by the Princess was specially composed by Joe Price and Kojo Samuel. 

Passing it on

Her love of the piano is something she has also passed on to her daughter, Princess Charlotte. In November 2021, Kate spoke with Chinese pianist Lang Lang at the Royal Variety Performance, where he revealed: “We talked about Charlotte. Her Royal Highness talked about Charlotte’s piano playing, I’m sure she’s very good.” 

“Her Royal Highness said to me that she said to Princess Charlotte ‘Hey, look, if you practise a lot you can be like him’. 

“So I’m happy to be helpful a little bit. It’s really funny, I was like, wow, I’m sure she will do well at the piano. I think she is practising.”