Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, demonstrated her musical ear on television for the first time during a Christmas Eve performance.
Kate Middleton performed with Scottish musician Tom Walker at the “Royal Carols: Together at Christmas” ITV special, which broadcast on Friday, December 24. The duo played the singer’s Christmas song, “For Those Who Can’t Be Here,” in Westminster Abbey, with Tom Walker on vocals and guitar and the duchess herself on piano.
Kate Middleton looked joyful in her monochromatic red costume, accompanying Walker throughout their dreamy rendition of the sorrowful song.
Walker described the incident in an interview with ITV, characterizing Kate Middleton as a “warm-hearted, lovely person”
“Without doubt, it was a once in a lifetime experience,” Walker said. “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.”
To make the duchess’ special presence a surprise, rehearsals for the surprising performance were kept under wraps. Walker said he had no idea she could play the piano.
Talking about the covid-friendly rehearsals, Walker said, “So, 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 practiced it, and then we finally got to do the recording of it.”
Ellie Goulding and Leona Lewis, both singers, performed at the event, which was taped earlier this month.
After the show aired, a statement was issued on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s official Instagram to congratulate the TV special and the message for fans. On Instagram, a sequence of images depicting different events during the night were uploaded, along with a moving message about the festive season in the midst of the epidemic.
“Together at Christmas brought together so many inspirational individuals for a night of wonderful carols and music,” the caption read. “But above all, it was about celebrating the goodwill, acts of kindness, love, empathy, and compassion which have helped people come through these difficult times.”
A small video message from Kate herself was released on Instagram days before the event aired.
“We wanted to say a huge thank you to all those amazing people out there who have supported their communities. We also wanted to recognize those whose struggles perhaps have been less visible too,” the Duchess said during the video.
The duchess acknowledged that the nation and its numerous communities had struggled in the previous two years as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
“We’ve been through such a bleak time. We’ve seen so many challenges. We’ve lost our loved ones,”she said. “We’ve seen our frontline workers under immense pressure. And also we’ve been more emotionally and socially distanced and isolated from each other.”
She continued, saying, “But I suppose through that separation, we’ve also realized how much we need each other and how acts of kindness and love can really bring us comfort and relief in times of distress.”
“In the congregation we’ve got many inspirational individuals,” the caption continued. “We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for all they’ve done in bringing people together and supporting their communities.”
