This year marks the first time Britain has had a solid chance of winning Eurovision in more than a decade, and Kate Middleton made sure tonight’s Grand Final got off to a headline-grabbing start by participating in the event’s opening film.
Posted to Instagram on May 13, the short clip sees last year’s champions, Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, performing their winning entry of “Stefania” in Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti station, interspersed with cutaways to UK-based talents ranging from Andrew Lloyd Webber to Ms. Banks. For her part, the Princess of Wales performed a short instrumental piece for her cameo, filmed at a piano in the Crimson Drawing Room of Windsor Castle.
The video was, of course, prerecorded, with the Princess wearing a one-shouldered Jenny Packham gown to play Joe Price and Kojo Samuel’s composition. You can watch the clip here.
The performance—and her choice of a Ukrainian-blue dress—is a welcome show of support for the eastern European country more than a year into Russia’s invasion. Controversially, the European Broadcasting Union banned President Zelensky from making an address during the contest this year out of concerns that it would violate the competition’s alleged political neutrality.
This isn’t the first time that Kate Middleton has used fashion to signal her support for Ukraine. The Princess paired a blue Alexander McQueen jumper with a badge bearing the Ukrainian flag for a visit to the country’s Cultural Centre in London last March, before dropping into Reading’s Ukrainian Community Centre in November wearing a navy-and-mustard LK Bennett dress. Her decision to meet First Lady Olena Zelenska at Buckingham Palace in the run-up to the Queen’s funeral was likewise a powerful statement. Kate may not speak out often when it comes to politics – famously keeping her cards close to her chest about almost everything – but when she does make her feelings known, the world listens.
This article was originally published by British Vogue.
