Kate appears to play the piano at Abbey community carol service

The Duchess of Cambridge appears to have tickled the ivories at a community carol service at Westminster Abbey.

Kate hosted the event, Royal Carols: Together At Christmas, on December 8, as a thank you to the people who have supported their communities during the pandemic.

A clip on the Kensington Palace twitter feed seems to show she also played the piano.

Kate gained her grade three piano and grade five theory and she was taught by Daniel Nicholls until she was 13.

Ahead of her wedding to William, Mr Nicholls told the BBC in 2011: “I don’t think she was ever going to be a concert pianist. She was lovely, she was a normal student and very pleasant.”

In a recorded introduction to the service, Kate paid tribute to the “inspirational” people who have served their communities during the “bleak time” of the pandemic.

Kate said: “We wanted to say a huge thank you to all those amazing people out there who have supported their communities.

“We also wanted to recognise those whose struggles perhaps have been less visible too.”

The duchess said the country had been through “such a bleak time” and had faced “many challenges”, including the loss of loved ones, while frontline workers had been under “immense pressure”.

She added that while people had been “more emotionally and socially distanced and isolated from each other”, this separation had helped people to realise “how much we need each other” and the importance of acts of kindness.

The service was attended by those Kate and William had spent time with during recent engagements, as well as members of the armed forces involved in Operation Pitting to evacuate British nationals and eligible Afghans from Afghanistan, young carers, faith leaders and those who may have been more vulnerable or isolated during the pandemic.

The service includes music from the Westminster Abbey choir, singer Leona Lewis, Ellie Goulding and Tom Walker, who performed his Christmas single For Those Who Can’t Be Here.

The Duke of Cambridge, British Paralympian and junior doctor Kim Daybell, actor Tom Felton and presenter Kate Garraway all gave readings and there was also a performance of To The Day, a special piece created for the service by poet and writer Lemn Sissay.

Royal Carols: Together At Christmas will air at 7.30pm on Christmas Eve on ITV.