Royal fans are under the impression that Kate Middleton wasn’t actually playing the piano during her surprise Eurovision performance over the weekend.
The Princess of Wales delighted viewers when she made a cameo in the opening scene of the competition’s grand finale where she played a few bars of Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra’s song “Stefania” on the piano.
Her piano performance was pre-recorded earlier this month in the Crimson Drawing Room of Windsor Castle.
But piano aficionados are convinced that Middleton, 41, was faking her skills at tickling the ivory and took to Twitter to accuse her of acting.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this, Kate wasn’t actually playing the piano. Someone else was. She & her people faked the whole thing. Her fingers were not on the rt chords & those who play piano by ear/are musicians could tell. My oldest son pointed this out to me.????????????????,” one person tweeted on Sunday.
“Lots of people angry in the music industry. One of my contacts asks ‘why she is constantly shoehorned into things she does not have the skills for.’ She should stick to doing angry looking photos in posh carriages,” a second person wrote.
“I hv played for three years. I took lessons. Piano is not easy. I gave up half way.and took my time to self learn. the way she placed her finger it’s awkward and not sure if she knew wht treble clef & bass clef is. Sorry she is just acting. Hopefully it lands her a job,” a third claimed.
“She played all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order…,” someone joked.
“It was painful to watch. Cringe,” a critic added.
However, other music experts defended the wife of Prince William, with some chalking it up to technical difficulties.
“Piano teacher here. It’s likely she played, they filmed her and the sound and picture just didn’t sync. Kate had lessons for quite a while, reaching about grade four. There was an interview with her piano teacher on her wedding day,” someone offered.
“She is playing. She has played before. Whether it was in sync another question. Who cares, well done her????,” a defender shared.
“I’m team H&M [Harry & Meghan] all the way but is it possible they just weren’t matching up the sound and video? It appears to sway in and out,” a third questioned.
“Catherine has played the piano in public before, she plays very well, it was her playing,” a fan said.
This isn’t the first time that Middleton has showcased her piano playing and famously accompanied Tom Walker for a Christmas 2021 performance at Westminster Abbey.
Duchess Of Cambridge Singing In School Play and Playing Piano
Almost everyone would agree that Catherine (Kate) Middleton is a very special woman. Very few people could exhibit the grace, poise, and elegance to join the protocol, tradition and pomp surrounding the royal family and execute it flawlessly. Add to that the visibility of being married to the future monarch and being responsible for raising Prince George, and we must all be impressed at the way she conducts herself.
That’s why it’s so great to see a completely different side of this amazing young woman. In the first of two videos uploaded to YouTube, we see Catherine singing the lead role of Eliza Doolittle in her school play, My Fair Lady. Kate would later go on to achieve grade 5 in both singing and music theory throughout her education.
Another clip of Kate Middleton performing as “Eliza Doolittle” in My Fair Lady
Scroll down to watch Kate Middleton playing piano with Tom Walker
Although Kate is clearly a natural at acting like a lady, although a friend from that time said she did struggle initially with Eliza’s cockney accent. That’s hardly a surprise considering her usual cut-glass diction. However, what Kate was amazingly good at was making the audience laugh.
In the video, you can hear the audience roaring at the funny moments in her performance. Who knows, if Kate had taken a different path at university, she might have been picking up an award at the BAFTAs rather than life as the wife of the future king. She studied art history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where she met Prince William in 2001.
Kate Plays Piano Alongside Tom Walker
Her talents don’t just extend to acting, either. The Duchess organised the televised concert Royal Carols: Together At Christmas at Westminster Abbey. It was made as a thank you to all the people who have served their communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kate worked with singer Tom Walker in secret to rehearse their performance before the concert. Kate met Tom at a charity event and later approached him and asked him to perform the duet with her.
Kate accompanied the professional musician flawlessly on the piano as he played the guitar and sang his Christmas hit For Those Who Can’t Be Here. In a festive red dress, she played effortlessly and added a melancholy note which beautifully complimented Walker’s soulful voice and the sorrow of the lyrics.
After the performance, Walker was effusive in his praise of the talented duchess. He told reporters that she absolutely nailed it and that he previously didn’t know she played the piano.
As it’s unlikely that we’ll see many more musical performances from our future queen we’ll need to keep an eye on the next generation of the royal family. Maybe they’ll inherit their mother’s musical talents.
If you want to watch more from this brilliant up and coming artist, check out her YouTube channel.