Princess Kate’s latest outing has a touching link to her late mother-in-law, , as the royal recently announced she has following a cancer diagnosis earlier in the year.
On Thursday, it was revealed that Kate paid a private visit to the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London where she watched an English National Ballet company performance of Akram Khan’s Giselle.
The princess’ attendance at shows made in a private capacity usually goes unknown and unannounced. However, on Thursday night, Kate took to social media to author a rare personal post praising the production and its performers.
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“Congratulations and thank you to @ENBallet and @Sadlers_Wells for the wonderfully powerful, moving and inspiring performance of Akram Khan’s Giselle,” she , signing off: “Creativity at its best! C.”
The “C” initial for “Catherine” is used when signing off social media posts that are authored by the royal herself and not one of the Kensington Palace communications team.
Kate follows in a long line of royal ballet lovers. Giselle is a dark romance story that sees its titular character die of a broken heart when a nobleman betrays her, leading her to join a ghostly collective of brokenhearted women who take revenge on men by making them dance to their deaths.
In the end, love prevails, with Giselle rescuing the man she was in love with from his dark fate and in doing so freeing her spirit.
The piece had its London debut in 1842 and was seen by Queen Victoria that same year, with the monarch noting in her journal that it was a “very pretty” performance.
Queen Elizabeth II attended a gala performance of the piece staged by the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow during her first (and only) state visit to Russia in 1994.
And perhaps the most famous royal ballet lover of the 20th century, Princess Diana, attended a performance of Giselle staged by the London City Ballet in Nottingham, England, in December 1986.
Diana was passionate about dance and throughout her married life took regular lessons in ballet and modern disciplines with teacher, Anne Allen.
The princess famously with royal ballet star Wayne Sleep in December 1985 at a performance held at the Royal Opera House in London.
Kate’s ballet visit on Thursday has a deeper link to Diana beyond simply being one of the pieces also seen by her late mother-in-law.
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Diana was the first royal patron of the English National Ballet, a professional company first known as the London City Ballet. She was patron from 1989 to her death in 1997 and would regularly attend rehearsals and productions.
One of Diana’s last engagements before her death at the age of 36 was to see an English National Ballet performance of Swan Lake. She attended the . The princess died following a car crash in Paris just two months later.
When Diana died, her vacant patronage was taken up by in 2001. He resigned the honor in 2019 after following public backlash over his friendship with convicted sex offender, .
In June 2024 it was announced that the patronage had been accepted by another royal ballet fan, Queen Camilla, who made her first visit as patron to the organization’s London rehearsal facility in September.
Kate’s love of ballet, while not as well known as other royals, has manifested since her
In 2019, the princess visited the Royal Opera House in London, home to The Royal Ballet of whom is a patron.
Kate toured the facility, meeting with the costume and productions team, and also sat in on a training session with members of the Royal Ballet company.
On Friday, the English National Ballet thanked Kate for her message about their production. Taking to their X account, the organization :
“Thank you so much for attending. We’re incredibly proud of our team and cast who poured their hearts into Akram Khan’s Giselle. Your words are a beautiful affirmation of our work. We hope to see you again soon.”
Regalrumination.com approached Kensington Palace via email for comment.
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