English Speaking Royals

RoyalEnquirer · #1 01-09-2006, 10:27 PM

I am going to assume that most Royals from around the world know how to speak English, but I am just curious to see if they speak it fluently and if there are any that don't. Thanks!

Emily :)

crisiñaki · #2 01-09-2006, 10:40 PM

Infanta Elena, Infanta Cristina, Prince Felipe and Queen Sofia speak english perfectly; actually they always speak english among themselves; I heard King Juan Carlos speaks English too, but his isn't as good as the rest of his family is.

lamass · #3 01-09-2006, 11:13 PM

the luxembourgish family speak that at home too.

RoyalEnquirer · #4 01-09-2006, 11:44 PM

How very interesting that they choose to speak English in their homes. Apparently they were all taught it at a very early age. I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, but I don't think I would do that well speaking it in Spain or Mexico. I can't imagine speaking more than one language fluently. I think it would be quite an accomplishment!

crisiñaki · #5 01-09-2006, 11:52 PM

All the SRF also speaks Greek and French.

The thing about spanish is that comes from a different lingual family from English or German and the same one from Italian and French; also Spanish has much more grammar and spelling rules than English and that's why is easier for a native Spanish speaker to learn English than it is for a native English speaker to learn Spanish; another reason is that the Spanish changes a lot according to the country and their people's culture: the same word has a complete different meaning in México or Perú

PD: I'm a native Spanish speaker by the way

SpiffyBallerina · #6 01-10-2006, 10:31 AM

Both Queen Margrethe of Denmark and Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands are totally fluent in English. When Princess Beatrix was very small, WWII broke out and the Dutch Royal Family went into exile in Canada, so Beatrix learned English at a young age. Princess Margrethe went to boarding school in England and she also had tutors. Of all the non-native-speaking royals I've heard speaking English, I think these two do it the best (and with such cool accents!).

Little_star · #7 01-10-2006, 10:33 AM

Queen Rania speaks very good English as does her husband although his mother is English so that's hardly surprising.

melissajames · #8 01-10-2006, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Little_star

Queen Rania speaks very good English as does her husband although his mother is English so that's hardly surprising.

I think Rania studied at the American University at Cairo and I think their teaching lanugage is English. :)

melissajames · #9 01-10-2006, 11:02 AM

BTW, I think its shameful that most royals from Europe
(and many outside of Europe, including Rania & Masako) can speak English so well whilst the British RF can only manage English.

It tells a lot about the failures of the BR education system and the British attitude towards the rest of the world.

karla64 · #10 01-10-2006, 11:37 AM

Prince Frederick spoke English of course hiswife mary spoke english from Australia Victoria of sweden speak english??? i am not sure

**Warren** · #11 01-10-2006, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melissajames

BTW, I think its shameful that most royals from Europe
(and many outside of Europe, including Rania & Masako) can speak English so well whilst the British RF can only manage English.
It tells a lot about the failures of the BR education system and the British attitude towards the rest of the world.

Well for starters The Queen speaks fluent French, Prince Philip speaks French and probably German; Prince Charles: Welsh; Edward and Sophie: French (or at least they are learning); Prince Michael of Kent is fluent in Russian, Princess Michael: French and possibly German; Princess Alexandra: French; the Duchess of Gloucester: Danish (no surprise there), and no doubt there are more. Then there's Prince William, who dabbled in Swahili, but is unlikely to be fluent. :)

Little_star · #12 01-10-2006, 11:41 AM

"I think Rania studied at the American University at Cairo and I think their teaching lanugage is English. :)"

She did but her accent is flawless.

LaChicaMadrilena · #13 01-10-2006, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by karla64

Prince Frederick spoke English of course hiswife mary spoke english from Australia Victoria of sweden speak english??? i am not sure

Of course she does, she studied at Yale in US (I may be wrong).

melissajames · #14 01-10-2006, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warren

Well for starters The Queen speaks fluent French, Prince Philip speaks French and probably German; Prince Charles: Welsh; Edward and Sophie: French (or at least they are learning); Prince Michael of Kent is fluent in Russian, Princess Michael: French and possibly German; Princess Alexandra: French; the Duchess of Gloucester: Danish (no surprise there), and no doubt there are more. Then there's Prince William, who dabbled in Swahili, but is unlikely to be fluent. :)

As far as I know, it is not widely known that the Queen speaks fluent French and I have not known any public occassions where she's been reported to have spoken French fluently.

Yes, Philip probably speaks one or two other languages, but he's actually foreign (related to the Greek RF).

I can hardly agree that Walsh is actually an international language. I doubt a significant number of people actually speak Welsh outside of Wales. As far as I know, a lot of people living in Wales don't speak Walsh.

Prince William - I doubt he's fluent in what ever he's learning, otherwise it would have been reported by the press as the biggest achievement of the BRF this century!

And Harry is only just managing English.

And all these other members who are 'learning' French. Well, I doubt they are actually going to be fluent. And what incentives are there for them to improve? Almost EVERYONE else speaks English fluently!

The point I am trying to make is:

Haakon, Fred, etc have studied at top universities where English is the teaching language. Do you honesting think any member of the BRF, Will, Harry, Beatrice, Zara have mastered a 2nd language so well that they can go and study for a degree at a French/German speaking university? I don't think so!!!

Fact - other Europeans (and possibly the rest of the world) are just better at teaching and learning languages.

kittencrews · #15 01-10-2006, 12:01 PM

The Grimaldi's speak fluent English (of course). Stephanie and Albert have a perfect American accent while Caroline has an English accent because she attended school in England. Pierre and Charlotte Casiraghi are said to be fluent in English and I know Andrea is because I have seen him in a video.

melissajames · #16 01-10-2006, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Little_star

"I think Rania studied at the American University at Cairo and I think their teaching lanugage is English. :)"

She did but her accent is flawless.

Hard work and talent.

melissajames · #17 01-10-2006, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kittencrews

The Grimaldi's speak fluent English (of course). Stephanie and Albert have a perfect American accent while Caroline has an English accent because she attended school in England. Pierre and Charlotte Casiraghi are said to be fluent in English and I know Andrea is because I have seen him in a video.

I think they also speak German (esp Albert).
I read somewhere that Charlotte speaks Italian.

Princess BellyFlop · #18 01-10-2006, 12:26 PM

ayoe ouch awfully harsh on our Majesty's family!

Quote:

Originally Posted by melissajames

As far as I know, it is not widely known that the Queen speaks fluent French and I have not known any public occassions where she's been reported to have spoken French fluently.

Well, when Her Majesty visits Canada, where a large percentage of the population speaks French (as in Quebec for example), she always has a few words in French for us. A few year back, she even read the message - French part included - at the opening of the Canadian parliement. Her accent is international.

PLUS, a few year back, some silly radio guys in Montreal put a phone prank on her. God only know how they got her phone number and got HER on the phone. They pretended to be our Prime Minister (at the time) Jean Chretien (whose 1st languague is French) and they talked with her. She clearly understood everything the guy was saying. Her French was good enough so she suspected that it was not the real Canadian Prime Minister - or if it was he would have been highly intoxicated - and she diplomatically ended the conversation as if nothing had happened. She actually took control of the conversation, all of that in French.

I was very surprised by her fluency and her wit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by melissajames

And all these other members who are 'learning' French. Well, I doubt they are actually going to be fluent. And what incentives are there for them to improve? Almost EVERYONE else speaks English fluently!]

Princess Michael is fluent in French. She was interviewed by Ardisson in France - the same guy who interviewed Nicole Coste. Everything went very well with her. She even showed an excellent sense of humor.

melissajames · #19 01-10-2006, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princess BellyFlop

ayoe ouch awfully harsh on our Majesty's family!

Well, when Her Majesty visits Canada, where a large percentage of the population speaks French (as in Quebec for example), she always has a few words in French for us. A few year back, she even read the message - French part included - at the opening of the Canadian parliement. Her accent is international.

PLUS, a few year back, some silly radio guys in Montreal put a phone prank on her. God only know how they got her phone number and got HER on the phone. They pretended to be our Prime Minister (at the time) Jean Chretien (whose 1st languague is French) and they talked with her. She clearly understood everything the guy was saying. Her French was good enough so she suspected that it was not the real Canadian Prime Minister - or if it was he would have been highly intoxicated - and she diplomatically ended the conversation as if nothing had happened. She actually took control of the conversation, all of that in French.

I was very surprised by her fluency and her wit.

Princess Michael is fluent in French. She was interviewed by Ardisson in France - the same guy who interviewed Nicole Coste. Everything went very well with her. She even showed an excellent sense of humor.

BTW, I am British and I am not criticising the RF just for the sake of it. I genuinely feel that the GB are terrible at languages and considering globlisation etc this will prove to be a huge handicap and the RF esp the young ones are not setting high standards. We have just been lucky because of US dominance and hence been able to get away with just speaking one language.

I also think the lack of ability in this area is a reflection on the RF's education standard - not comparable with other European RFs imo.

Thanks for providing info about he Queen's French, I wonder how they got her number???

Having said that, I am not surprised she has a knowledge of French as it was THE diplomatic language not long ago. :)