How Princess Kate Paid Tribute To Musical Legends John Lennon and George Michael

On Dec. 8, Princess Kate hosted her third annual Together at Christmas carol service. Dec. 8 also happens to be the anniversary of John Lennon’s death.

For this year’s event, Kate brought together the joy and magic of the season with emotional tributes to the musicians who made our favorite hits.

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For the third year in a row, Kate has gathered community service members and charity workers to celebrate the magic that is Christmas.

During the service, U.K. host and mental health advocate, Roman Kemp, 30, the son of pop stars Martin Kemp and Shirlie Holliman, came up onstage to introduce Jacob Collier’s performance of “Last Christmas.”

Collier performed the classic holiday hit on a piano, which originally belonged to Beatles frontman Lennon and was once owned by Michael.

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He passed away on Christmas Day 2016, and in this year’s event, his godson paid tribute to him, calling him “a man of great kindness and compassion,” and adding that he was there with them in “spirit.”

He “helped to inspire not only myself but so many others,” Kemp said.

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The “Capital Breakfast” host then described the story of how Michael bought the Steinway piano Lennon used to write his 1971 song “Imagine.”

Per a report by the BBC, the singer bought the piano at an auction for £1.45m ($1.8 million) in 2000. He would go on to use the instrument to write his own music.

“It’s not the type of thing that should be in storage somewhere or being protected, it should be seen by people,” Michael told the press after the purchase, per NME.

The Princess of Wales first originally launched the carol service in 2021, as a way to thank service workers and bring the community together after a year that’s been about social distancing. Since then, it’s become a yearly tradition supported by the Royal Foundation.

This year’s event focused on the royal’s shaping us campaign from her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

While limited tickets are available for in-person attendance (Westminster Abbey sits only 2,200 people), the public can tune into ITV1 and ITVX on Christmas Eve.

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Editorial credit: Frederic Legrand – COMEO / Shutterstock.com