At a recent concert at the Royal Albert Hall, where Kate Middleton was invited as guest of honour, she got talking to Chinese pianist Lang Langu. He was performing on stage with 13-year-old Lucy, an autistic blind girl he found playing on a public piano in a railway station. And it couldn’t help but move the Princess of Wales, an avid fan of piano music.
“Her Royal Highness asked me about how long we had been practising together and how we discovered Lucy’s talent,” says Lang.
These queries from Kate turned out to be more than just a royal courtesy. Speaking to Lang, Kate admitted that her daughter, 8-year-old Princess Charlotte, has recently begun to share her love of music. Elizabeth II’s granddaughter has only just begun to master the instrument so far, but, Kate assures her, she’s already doing well.
“I’m glad I could be of some help. I’m sure Charlotte will do well on the piano. I think she’s practising a lot,” Lang added.
In any case, Lang is confident that Charlotte will have strong maternal support along the way. After all, Kate is a keen pianist herself. This talent Princess of Wales discovered in herself in her school years, when she tried herself in various directions – acting, ballet and even vocal. In the end, Kate chose music over them. In the school orchestra Tootie-Flooties future Princess of Wales played the flute, went to a class on the piano and independently mastered ukulele. She demonstrated her skills in public two years ago at the first Together at Christmas concert with Tom Walker.
“It was a unique experience, no doubt. I thought she was going to ruin the performance. It’s not easy to just jump at the piano with a group of musicians you’ve never played with before and record live takes on camera. But she managed to do it all brilliantly,” Walker recalled.
