As we've seen from her more than 10 years in the royal spotlight, Kate Middleton seems to be able to do just about anything — from playing volleyball in heels to designing gardens. And on Saturday, she showed off another impressive talent when she made a surprise appearance on the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Grand Final broadcast to treat the audience to a special piano performance. But even though many people were bowled over by her playing skills, some suspicious fans think there was some sneaky sleight of hand going on.
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Kate took part in an opening sequence alongside last year's Eurovision champions.
The Princess of Wales' involvement in the event was kept completely secret until the broadcast aired on TV. Her piano performance was filmed earlier this month in the Crimson Drawing Room at Windsor Castle. Dressed in a gorgeous cobalt blue one-shouldered Jenny Packham gown as a tribute to the Ukrainian flag, Kate was joined in the segment by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, singer Joss Stone, and other British musicians to perform Kalush Orchestra's winning track from last year's Eurovision contest, "Stefania."
Many royal fans were quite impressed by Kate's performance.
When a clip of the performance was shared on Kate and Prince William's official Instagram account, the comments section was immediately filled with people praising Kate's musical talents.
"Amazing … What can't she do?!" one fan wrote.
"Just when I thought she couldn't be more perfect," another person gushed.
"Well, I that's my evening sorted. Just going to watch this on repeat. She is divine," shared a third.
But some people are accusing Kate of faking her piano playing.
On Twitter, a number of people claiming to be piano aficionados shared their opinion that Kate wasn't actually playing.
"I don't know who needs to hear this, but Kate wasn't actually playing the piano. Someone else was. She and her people faked the whole thing. Her fingers were not on the [right] chords and those who play piano by ear/are musicians could tell. My oldest son pointed this out to me," tweeted one critic.
"The way she placed her finger it's awkward and not sure if she [knows] what treble clef & bass clef is. Sorry, she is just acting," shared another.
"Lots of people angry in the music industry. One of my contacts asks, 'Why is she constantly shoehorned into things she does not have the skills for?' She should stick to doing angry looking photos in posh carriages," yet another person griped.
Still, others defended Kate and suggested that technical difficulties may have been to blame.
It seems an issue syncing the sound and the video could be why some people thought Kate's performance looked fake.
"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 wrote.
"Is it possible they just weren't matching up the sound and video? It appears to sway in and out," a second person questioned.
This isn't the first time Kate has performed on the piano publicly.
In December 2021, the royal mom of three performed during the Together at Christmas broadcast, a benefit carol concert to honor the health care workers who helped keep the UK running during the pandemic. Kate had stepped in to host the event after the Queen fell ill, but it came as a big surprise to viewers to see the princess sit down and tickle the ivories. She joined musician Tom Walker to play his song "For Those Who Can't Be Here."
At the time, there didn't seem to be a big outcry that Kate was faking her piano skills, so perhaps this really was an audio-visual issue.
