Kate and Charlotte perform together on the piano for royal carol concert
For the past five years the Princess of Wales has staged her celebratory Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey.
The Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte have performed together on the piano for Kate’s Christmas carol concert.
Mother and daughter sat together at the instrument to play a piece they know well by Scottish composer Erland Cooper.
The performance was for the Together at Christmas concert, held at Westminster Abbey on December 5, and was pre-recorded last week so did not feature at the live event – but it was aired as part of the ITV1 screening of the service on Christmas Eve.
For the past five years, Kate has staged her celebration of Christmas, and at the inaugural event she surprised audiences by accompanying singer-songwriter Tom Walker on piano as he sang his Christmas song, For Those Who Can’t Be Here.
For her latest performance, the princess played Cooper’s piece Holm Sound using only her left hand, while Charlotte played with just her right in Windsor Castle’s Inner Hall.
Cooper said he was invited to the princesses’ recording of his music: “I was so impressed because they performed the piece in front of a crew of people, and also the composer who wrote it, and it was lovely.
“We all clapped at the end and celebrated that really sincere, poignant moment.”
The Scottish composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, originally from the Orkney Islands, often combines field recordings with traditional orchestration and contemporary electronic elements in his work.
He is famed for burying the only copy of the master tape of his first classical album, Carve the Runes then Be Content with Silence, in Orkney in 2021, deleting all digital files of the work and letting nature alter the sound before it was unearthed and released a few years later to top the classical charts.
Cooper said about the mother and daughter performance: “I actually wrote it for my mum, and it’s a piece that’s actually about motherhood, so there’s this lovely sort of bit of serendipity there.
“Little Charlotte’s taking the melody, a bit like bird songs she’s sort of floating the melody and giving it a lilt, and the arpeggio on the chords are played by the princess as well – so a pair of princesses playing the piano.”
The princess and her daughter have enjoyed playing the piece together at home, and as they performed, footage was shown of guests arriving for the carol service – with the Prince of Wales and Kate watching as their children tied paper chains bearing their names on a “Connection Tree” outside the abbey.
The princess also narrated the letter that accompanied every order of service, where she reflected on the Christmas period that reminds us “how deeply our lives are woven together”.
The pair clearly enjoyed performing together, smiling at each other, and it is understood Kate wanted to include the musical element in the carol service to highlight her belief in the importance of connections – as mentioned in her letter.
During the carol concert Chiwetel Ejiofor read the famous festive poem A Visit from St Nicholas, by Clement Clarke Moore which begins with the lines: “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”
Kate Winslet delivered a heartfelt reflection on the meaning of love at Christmas telling the carol service it can “light up the world around us”.
Among the congregation were Kate’s parents Carole and Michael Middleton, her brother James Middleton and wife Alizee Thevenet, Zara and Mike Tindall, the Duchess of Edinburgh and Prince Michael of Kent who arrived in a wheelchair.
The Hollywood actress told the congregation of celebrities, sporting stars and those who have selflessly served their friends, families and communities to “bring joy” which can be “as simple as offering a smile, a hug, and kind word”.
William gave a reading from St Luke about the moment an angel appeared to shepherds and told them: “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”
Katie Melua sang the festive favourite White Christmas, made popular by Bing Crosby, and Cornish folk group Fisherman’s Friends performed I Saw Three Ships.
