Prince William has revealed the sweet way Princess Charlotte is following in her mother Kate’s footsteps as she learns a ‘crucial’ skill – with Prince George and Prince Louis also embarking on similar hobbies.
The Prince of Wales, 43, visited a youth organisation in Lambeth, south London, yesterday, while his brother Prince Harry was in Nottingham.
Spiral Skills has received funding from the Prince’s homelessness initiative Homewards to move into a new hub for young people at the Oasis Village in Tulse Hill.
During his visit, William visited a music studio and said he was making sure his children are learning to play instruments because music is ‘crucial’.
Prince George, 12, plays guitar, Princess Charlotte, ten, plays piano and Prince Louis, seven, plays the drums.
It appears Charlotte is following in her mother’s footsteps – as the Princess of Wales has previously shown her skills at the piano, giving a surprise performance during the Eurovision finals in 2023, and playing a duet at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Yesterday, the heir to the throne turned down the opportunity to play the drums on a visit to a music charity, saying his son Prince Louis would have done if he had been there.
Asked by 16-year-old Django Brooke whether he wanted to play, William laughed and replied: ‘I’m definitely not a drummer. I’m happy to see you do it, if my youngest was here, he’d have a go, because he’s practising at the moment, but I’d love to hear you do it. But thank you for asking.’
Prince William visits Spiral Skills, a youth organisation in Lambeth, in London
William revealed what instruments his three children George, Charlotte and Louis (pictured at Trooping the Colour in June) play
The Prince told the young musicians taking part in a workshop: ‘It’s brilliant, you guys have clearly done a lot of practising, well done, that’s not easy doing that in front of everyone – that’s brilliant.
‘You’ve all got amazing rhythm and it sounds fantastic, I wish I started when I was your age.
‘I couldn’t read music so that was my biggest weakness, I started off playing piano, trumpet and the drums and then realised I had to memorise every tune and it just fell away.
‘I make sure my children learn music because I love music and it’s crucial, really important.’
Symphony Studios founder Seth Pinnock said of William: ‘He said he couldn’t play drums well. He said he had learned drums and learned keyboards but couldn’t read it… But his children are learning to play keys, so hopefully his kids will come here one day and learn.’
During the Tusk Conservation Awards last November, William joked he had been ‘spending his entire life’ with his fingers in his ears after Louis decided to pick up the drums.
Laughing, William said: ‘My youngest is learning the drums, that’s why I spend my entire life with my fingers in my ears.’
The youngest Wales child is known for his cheeky and boisterous personality, so news of his new hobby will come as little surprise to royal fans.
William shared that Charlotte’s hobby takes after her mother, the Princess of Wales. Kate is pictured during her Eurovision performance
Prince Louis, however, plays the drums. The cheeky prince pulled a series of quirky expressions during Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 (pictured)
William’s son always appears full of energy – from clambering up a tree in Kate’s cancer recovery video in September, to pulling a series of cheeky expressions during Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
George, meanwhile, is known to have been making progress on the guitar since 2020, when Kate said he was ‘starting to learn’.
Prince Harry is also known to play the guitar, as he was seen playing the instrument during his 2022 docuseries with Meghan.
The Wales children all appear to be following in their mother’s musical footsteps.
In 2023, Kate delighted the nation with a surprise piano performance at the Eurovision Song Contest, held that year in Liverpool.
Looking glamorous in a show-stopping sapphire gown, the video showed the Princess of Wales laughing as she played the piano.
The clip was shared on the Waleses’ official Instagram with the caption: ‘#Eurovision surprise. A pleasure to join @kalush.official in a special performance of last year’s winning @eurovision entry.
‘Enjoy the show, Liverpool.’
Prince William visits Spiral Skills, a youth organisation in Lambeth, south London, yesterday
Prince William visited the youth organisation in Lambeth, south London, and discussed the ‘crucial’ skill of learning an instrument
Prince William and Kate during a visit to the Women’s Institute in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on Monday to mark the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death
Kate also played the piano at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Eve in 2021, which marked her first ever public piano performance.
She did a duet with Tom Walker, who sang, as the pair performed For Those Who Can’t Be Here, when the world was beginning to come out of the coronavirus pandemic.
She was taught how to play the instrument in her early years, alongside her siblings James and Pippa and their mother, Carole.
But piano is not the only instrument that the Princess of Wales dabbles in, as she has not only played the flute but also sang before.
She played the flute during her school years at St Andrew’s School in Pangbourne, Berkshire.
She was a member of the school’s inaugural chamber orchestra and the senior flute group – amusingly known as the Tootie-Flooties – along with her younger sister, Pippa.
Friends say she was also Deputy Head Chorister in the chapel choir and was once commended in a BBC carol competition.
Shortly before she left the school, she passed her Associated Board Grade III flute examination with merit and also her Grade V singing.
Prince Harry arrives for a visit to the Community Recording Studio in Nottingham yesterday
Like her father-in-law, Kate also tried her hand at conducting, when she led the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, during a visit to Germany in 2017.
Earlier yesterday, William heard from community changemakers at Spiral Skills, who were formerly helped by the charity and are now trained youth workers supporting young people aged 14-25 at risk of exclusion or homelessness.
The youth organisation was founded in 2015 and works with local schools, youth organisations and authorities to provide early intervention, support, employability skills and access to employment and services for 14 to 25-year-olds.
The Prince visited the organisation at its new space and saw how it offers support for those who need it, before attending a workshop with Young Creators UK, a creative agency run and owned by underrepresented young people which receives referrals from Spiral Skills.
He has not yet met with his brother Prince Harry, who is visiting his patronages in London and Nottingham during a rare four-day visit to the UK.
Harry, who levelled accusations at the King, Queen, William and Kate in his Oprah interview, Netflix documentary and memoir Spare, told the BBC in May that Charles will not speak to him because of his court battle over his security, and he does not know ‘how much longer my father has’.
But he also outlined his hopes for a ‘reconciliation’ with his family, saying: ‘Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book. Of course, they will never forgive me for lots of things.’
He added: ‘But you know, I would love reconciliation with my family’ and said there was ‘no point in continuing to fight any more’.
Harry’s level of security changed in 2020 after Megxit.
He was last in the UK in April for a court hearing about his security arrangements, but lost his Court of Appeal challenge in May, and said in the TV interview he ‘can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back’.
He failed in his appeal against the dismissal of his High Court claim against the Home Office, over the decision of the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of protection when in the UK.
