diana piano© Photo: Getty Images

Princess Diana showcases impressive piano skills in unearthed video

The late royal wowed with her musical talents in Australia

Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
January 12, 2021

Princess Diana was renowned for her love of music and dance, and now her talents have been unearthed in an incredible video.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana toured the Melbourne Youth Council music camp at the Victorian College of the Arts during their royal visit to Australia in 1988.

The Prince performed a few notes on the cello, after which a shy Diana was asked to play a number on the piano. After being persuaded by Professor Henri Touzeau, the Princess relented and took her seat at the instrument.

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WATCH: Princess Diana showcases impressive piano skills in unearthed video

Diana casually tossed her purse on the floor before flawlessly launching into a rendition of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, which is said to be a particularly tricky piece to master.

The Princess, wearing a striped Roland Klein skirt suit, plays a few verses to the amazement of the professor and the packed auditorium, before becoming bashful.

Diana showed a talent for music as an accomplished pianist from a young age, and also excelled in ballet and tap dance.

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© Photo: Getty Images

Princess Diana with students at the music college in Melbourne

In fact, Diana's maternal grandmother, Lady Ruth Fermoy, was a pianist and studied under Alfred Cortot at the Paris Conservatoire in the 1920s.

She was also one of the Queen Mother's ladies-in-waiting and persuaded the royal to become patron of the King's Lynn Festival that she founded.

© Photo: Getty Images

Charles played the cello during the couple's visit

Charles and Diana made a ten-day visit to Australia during the bicentenary celebrations in 1988, but left their young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, who were five and three at the time, at home.

The couple's marriage broke down in the late 1980s and they announced their separation in 1992, before finalising their divorce four years later.

Princess Diana was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

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