Charlotte steals the show

Princess Charlotte may only be ten years old, but her instincts and character belong to someone much older.

It was something one could feel when she and her mother, Princess Catherine, played the piano together at the recent Christmas carol service held at Westminster Abbey.

They played a beautiful duet called Holm Sound by Erland Cooper, a Scottish composer whose work is inspired by nature. One would imagine it would be quite nerve-wracking for someone to play for the first time in public. Not leased that at Charlotte’s age, getting the right note on the keyboard is one thing and adding essential emotion another.

Yet the audience were very moved. Catherine sat very close to Charlotte as they each played with one hand, which makes it less stressful as you only have to worry about notes for one hand. To help a little more, Catherine gently put her non-playing hand round Charlotte’s back to help her confidence. I know this because I played the piano myself and taught beginners as a teenager.

It worked brilliantly, so much so that when they finished they gave each other a loving happy smile that made many of the audience wipe their eyes.

On Christmas Day, five hundred or more people turned up on a cold morning at St Mary Magdalene Church in Norfolk with flowers and presents for the royals and their children, spending the holiday at nearby Sandringham.

The regular line of royals processing into the church was different from previous years. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s daughters Beatrice and Eugenie with their husbands were moved forward in the line. The King and Queen walked first as usual, followed by Princess Anne with her husband Sir Timothy Laurence. Next would usually have been Prince William and Princess Catherine with their three children. But instead it was Beatrice and Eugenie’s turn, perhaps a small gesture of warmth from the King. They were, however, told not to converse with onlookers. They both left soon afterwards: Beatrice, it was reported, was going skiing.

The children supported each other. When 12-year-old Prince George was told by a member of the public that his grandmother Princess Diana would have been proud of him, Charlotte quickly put her arm round him, as Catherine does to William, as if to say, “Well done.”

Eight-year-old Louis beamed as he was given a large box of Lindor chocolates by another onlooker.

Charlotte gracefully accepted presents and then rushed back when other people eagerly held out more. Some even tried to try to give her a kiss. She accepted very carefully by moving her face to one side perhaps to avoid being kissed too closely.

King Charles delivered his annual Christmas message from Westminster Abbey rather than any of his homes. I thought that like last year, when the venue was the Fitzrovia Chapel in central London, it was a way of not using as backdrop a table covered with family photographs which could end in Prince Harry complaining he wasn’t included.

The King suggested that we would all benefit from a digital detox to “allow our souls to renew”. He marked the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War Two and urged us to remember the past, but not many people now can remember that historic date.

He also mentioned that he “meets people of different faiths” and said it was “enormously encouraging to hear how much we have in common”. Not really, I thought, but I liked his comment that we must “find the strength to ensure right triumphs over wrong”.

I also pondered on a few hints. One message was that we should cherish “compassion, reconciliation” and peace. Could this have meant Prince Harry and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor “doing to others as we would have them do to us?”

The good news for the future is that it is hoped that King Charles and the Prince of Wales will make separate trips to the US in 2026 as part of a campaign to revitalise a trade deal with Donald Trump and to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence.

It’s believed the King will go in April and William during the football World Cup which will be held in the US, Canada and Mexico between 11 June and 19 July.

If he is well enough to go, it will be Charles’s first visit since 2018, when he was Prince Charles and represented his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at President George H.W. Bush’s funeral.

The King is very likely to take Queen Camilla along for the trip. President Trump, who is very fond of the British Royal Family, plans to host a lavish welcome for the state visit.

The royal visit is said to be a “major moment” in the run-up to the July 4 Independence Day celebrations.

Prince Harry and Meghan will not be on the guest list. Nor is it likely that the King will find time to see his son. He will have a packed schedule and will be focusing on the visit and avoiding arguments. And as Harry isn’t a working royal he won’t be invited to any celebrations.