Princess Diana Plays Piano in Rare Clip From Her Australia Tour

(Image credit: Getty Images ¦ PATRICK RIVIERE)

published 16 January 2021

Back in 1998, during their royal tour of Australia, Prince Charles and Princess Diana (opens in new tab) made a stop at the Music College of the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne (opens in new tab).
During the visit, Charles' old cello teacher asked him to play a little for the crowd, which he did.
Diana, an accomplished pianist, wowed the crowd by sitting down at a piano and playing some of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Princess Diana (opens in new tab) was a woman of many, many talents. Need proof? (Or, you know, further proof, since literally everything you already know about her also confirms this fact.) How about this unearthed, rare video from her 1988 tour of Australia that's making the rounds on the internet, in which the Princess of Wales (opens in new tab) casually sits down at a piano and wows the crowd like it's NBD? Yeah, that'll do it.

Marie Claire Magazine

In the clip, she and Prince Charles (opens in new tab) are visiting with a group of musicians at the Music College of the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia when Charles' former cello teach asks him to play a few notes—you know, for old time's sake. Charles agrees and plays a little cello and it's very cute in the way any adult playing an instrument they played as a kid is adorable.

Then, magic happens. Diana (opens in new tab), clad in a stunning black and white striped suit and large white hat, sits at a piano and starts playing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 like it's no thing.

“She almost ran for cover, clearly embarrassed at her musical debut," the announcer on the old clip explains. Diana had no reason to be embarrassed though, since she studied piano in her school years and was considered an accomplished pianist.

Check out the vintage clip for yourself below:

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.