When Did Kate Middleton Learn to Play the Piano? Questions Arise After the Duchess Showed Off Her Talent on TV
It’s not every day that people get to see Kate Middleton show off a talent. After all, many of her public appearances simply involve supporting charities and promoting various causes.
However, Kate recently gave the public a glimpse into her musical talent by playing the piano on TV. This has led some people to wonder more about this talent. Where did it come from? When did the Duchess of Cambridge learn to play the piano?
Kate Middleton played the piano during the royal family’s Christmas carol concert
Earlier this month, Kate hosted a Christmas carol concert. According to Buzzfeed News, the event was set up as a way to “pay tribute to frontline workers and those working to support their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
There were many royal family members in attendance. Kate’s parents and siblings were there as well.
The event was then televised on Christmas Eve. Viewers were surprised to see that the duchess herself was involved in one of the performances. She played the piano while Scottish artist Tom Walker sang his song “For Those Who Can’t Be Here.”
In an interview with the BBC, Walker explained that he met Kate at a charity event, and she approached him about performing the song together.
“We got together, we rehearsed the song like nine times and by the end of it she’d absolutely nailed it, and then she went away for a couple of days and practised it, and then we finally got to do the recording of it,” he said.
Walker also added, “I think we were both really nervous that it wasn’t going to go quite to plan and one of us would let down the other person or whatever, but she was absolutely fabulous – she smashed it.”
When did Kate Middleton learn to play the piano?
Back in 2012, Kate’s former piano teacher, Daniel Nicholls, opened up about the duchess’ piano lessons to Evening Standard.
“Kate came for lessons when she was about 10 or 11, until she was 13, about 1993 to 95,” Nicholls said. “She was absolutely lovely, a really delightful person to teach the piano.”
He added, “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.”
Nicholls shared that other members of the Middleton family took lessons from him as well. He explained, “I actually taught the whole family except Mike – Carole, Pippa and James, and again they were just absolutely lovely people, normal piano pupils.”
When Kate and Prince William married, Nicholls composed a special song for the couple, called “A Song for Kate (and William).”
Kate Middleton also has other impressive skills
In addition to being a pianist, Kate also has other skills as well.
Most notably, Kate is a talented photographer. She reportedly got into photography as a teenager when she took pictures for her parents’ company, Party Pieces. As a royal, Kate often takes photos of her family members and shares them on social media. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kate helped release a photography book with the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Aside from taking pictures, Kate is good at drawing them as well. Earlier this year, Kate shared on Instagram a photo she sketched in 2002 of St. Andrews, Scotland, where she attended university.
