Before she was royal, Kate Middleton took center stage for a school production!
While the Princess of Wales, 41, has previously played piano to support important causes, footage of her singing in a school play has recently gone viral online. As seen in video shared to Instagram by fan account Catherine Princess of Wales, a young Kate sincerely sang “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” from My Fair Lady in the lead role of Eliza Doolittle.
“Lots of chocolate for me to eat, lots of coal makin’ lots of heat. Warm face, warm hands, warm feet, oh, wouldn’t it be loverly,” she sang on stage, channeling the character with her hair pulled back and a shawl around her shoulders.
According to Classic FM, Princess Kate sang the solo at age 11 during a performance at St. Andrew’s School in Pangbourne, Berkshire, where she studied from 1986 to 1995. The footage has hit the internet before, but brings Kate’s vocal talents to a whole new audience with further circulation on TikTok.
Kate Middleton attends Wimbledon in July 2023.
Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty
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Classic FM reported that Princess Kate was very involved with music at school, and pursued the piano, flute and choir. Her former piano instructor Daniel Nicholls previously spoke to the Evening Standard about teaching the future queen in the 1990s, from the time she was 10 or 11 until 13.
“She was absolutely lovely, a really delightful person to teach the piano,” Nicholls said, sharing that Kate reached level three of eight. “I don’t think anyone would say she was going to be a concert pianist, but she was good at it, she always did everything she was told,” he added.
Decades later, Kate turned to piano during the coronavirus pandemic and took “great comfort” in playing music, a royal source told PEOPLE at the time. Inspired, she organized the inaugural Royal Carols: Together At Christmas carol show in December 2021 to honor the individuals and organizations who supported their communities during the public health crisis — and surprised everyone with a musical cameo!
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In a prerecorded video that aired during the broadcast, which debuted in the U.K. on Christmas Eve, Princess Kate accompanied singer Tom Walker on the keys for a poignant rendition of “For Those Who Can’t Be Here,” surrounded by candles at Westminster Abbey. According to the royal source, the idea for the performance came from the Duchess of Cambridge (as she was styled at the time) herself.
“Music was very important to the Duchess during the lockdowns,” they explained. “She also recognizes the powerful way in which music brings people together — especially during difficult times. For these reasons, she was keen to be part of Tom’s performance in this way.”
This spring, Princess Kate played piano again to support the Eurovision Song Contest. She contributed a short instrumental performance to the opening sequence film of the popular European contest, which was hosted by the U.K. on behalf of Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
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Kate joined the 2022 Eurovision champions, Kalush Orchestra, in performing their winning entry, “Stefania” at the iconic Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro station in Kyiv, Ukraine. Her performance was created by composers, arrangers and musical directors Joe Price and Kojo Samuel, and was recorded in May in the Crimson Drawing Room of Windsor Castle.
Kensington Palace also gave a glimpse of the princess recording the session, where she wore a blue one-shoulder gown — a possible flag-dressing nod to the Ukrainian flag.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education