Fans going wild over unseen video of Princess Diana in Australia

Gillian Wolski
·Lifestyle & Entertainment Producer
·2-min read

An unseen video of Princess Diana flexing her musical muscle has left royal fans stunned and prompted some to suggest that she ‘upstaged’ her then-husband, Prince Charles, in the process.

In recently unearthed footage from the royal couple’s 1988 tour of Australia, the late princess wows onlookers with an impromptu piano recital during a visit to the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne.

Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 - 1997) plays the piano during a visit to the Music College of the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia, January 1988. She is wearing a black and white striped dress by Roland Klein.
Princess Diana stunned everyone with a mini piano concert during a royal tour of Australia in January 1988. Photo: Getty Images.

Piano princess

After some gentle cajoling by Henri Touzeau, the Professor of Music at Melbourne University at the time, Lady Di relented and took her seat behind the piano in the large auditorium packed with students, staff and photographers.

Tossing her white semi-circle shaped purse to the ground, Diana launches straight into a rendition of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 which is widely known to be a tricky tune.

But the People’s Princess pulls off several verses with aplomb — and, by the looks of it, without sheet music either — while an impressed Prof. Touzeau looks on.

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Charles ‘upstaged’

The then-26-year-old suddenly becomes self-conscious and abruptly ends her mini-concert. She attempts to flee but not before a thrilled Prof. Touzeau plants a kiss on her flushed cheek.

Prince Charles didn’t receive such a glowing response when the professor — said to be his old music tutor — convinced him to pick up a cello and play a few notes. The future king begrudgingly obliged but only for a few moments, and his performance didn’t end with a kiss from Prof. Touzeau or otherwise.

The recently resurfaced clip has taken off on social media, with Twitter users gushing over Diana’s surprise musical talent.

“I've never seen this!!!” tweeted one royal fan.

The Prince Of Wales Playing The Cello At The School Of Music, Victorian College Of Arts, melbourne In Australia
The Prince of Wales tries his hand at the cello at the Victorian College of Arts in Melbourne. Photo: Getty Images.
The Prof. of Music at Melbourne University, Prof. Henri Touzeau gives the Princess of Wales a kiss after she played the piano on a tour of the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday, Jan. 28, 1988. She is wearing a black and white striped dress by Roland Klein.
Diana's musical talents earned her a kiss on the cheek from Prof. Henri Touzeau. Photo: AP.

“Good God I love how she just casually slips into Rach 2,” added another.

“She upstaged Charles,” a third declared.

Charles and Diana’s trip down under marked their second in five years, with their first visit in 1983 being the focus of the most recent season of Netflix’s royal drama, The Crown.

A baby Prince William joined his parents on their debut Aussie tour, which saw the public fall head over heels with the new British princess.

The Prince and Princess of Wales’ subsequent trip in 1988 was to mark the country’s bicentenary celebrations.

Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 - 1997) visits the Music College of the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia, January 1988. She is wearing a black and white striped dress by Roland Klein. (Photo by Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)
For her visit, Diana wore a black and white striped outfit by Roland Klein. Photo: Getty Images.

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