What Languages Do The Royals Speak?

[Countessmeout]

I think when you are raised for a very public role, speaking at least two languages should be part of your education, and upkeep of it. You can't learn every language, but still. French would come in handy for the Brits.

 

[Iluvbertie]

William took French and Spanish at Eton for years. He speaks both very badly, but I do think with foreign languages it's a case of 'use it or lose it'. If you don't keep up any language then eventually you do forget it.

He did study them for his GCSE's but didn't take either for his final two years at school

I read a while ago that Edward and Sophie Wessex were studying French together, so it looks as if Edward wasn't encouraged to learn French either.

Like William - he didn't study any languages for his A levels (none of the Queen's children or grandchildren did other than Charles who did French at A level - gained a C grade)

I do think it's shameful that a future King of GB isn't able to communicate properly in any other language but his own, especially when you consider most of his European and Scandi contemporaries are fluent in at least three.

Why the fascination with always comparing the British royals badly with their European contemporaries. Most Europeans are fluent in 2 - 3 languages because of the nearness of other countries while most Brits aren't as they know that most Europeans learn English at school with many European school systems making English compulsory and that English is the most widely spoken language in the world after Mandarin.

As for Kate, I find it very hard to believe that her school, Marlborough, didn't offer at least two modern European languages in its curriculum.

I suspect Marlborough, like Eton, probably offered at least two European languages and maybe even more - but there was no compulsion to study a language past a brief introduction in 1st or 2nd form.

Just because a school offers a language doesn't mean that students have to study one unless it is stipulated in either the school's policy or the educational system.

e.g. in NSW it is compulsory to study a foreign modern language for 100 hours within one school year. At my school our Year 7 students must study Japanese. Of the around 110 students we have doing that in Year 7 usually fewer than 15 will continue with it into Year 8 and fewer than 10 into Years 9 - 10. It is a good decade since we had a class at school for the final two years - usually 1 - 2 students will do that course through correspondence education.

Given the vast array of subjects available now languages have to be interesting to compete and with English as the national language many kids take the option of 'thanks but no thanks - I don't need it'.

When I was at High School in the 1970s we didn't have to study a language at all and most of my cohort saw no reason to do so and we have all done very well with only English - partly due to the fact that it is English.

Whenever I travel in Europe and try to say 'sorry but I don't speak xxxx' I have always found that the person to whom I am talking start to speak in English and ask to practice their English so even if I was able to speak another language I would never get the chance.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Kate had no idea what position she would be in 25 years later. As for William, he had all the opportunities from early childhood, when I see the poor result I can only conclude that he is one of those people who are not born to learn another language.

 

[Curryong]

The shortest distance between England and the continent of Europe is (across the Straits of Dover) a little over 33 kilometres or 18 miles.

The distance between the Netherlands and Spain is certainly more than that yet if and when King Felipe and King Williem-Alexander meet, (and they have done on several occasions), they can converse in Spanish and English together. Would William be able to converse informally in German, Dutch or Spanish with King Willem? No, of course not!

I would just say that the world is getting smaller each year and although English is indeed an international language, it's not very admirable to remain mono-lingual or to show off your terrible French when you are the future leader of a nation, and perhaps Commonwealth, in which many, many languages are spoken.

Even if foreigners to whom you speak are kind enough to speak to you in your own language, IMO a whole other world, in literature and the arts for example, opens up to you when you have another language under your belt. Why rely on other people's good will?

William would greatly benefit by knowing French, IMO, not least because he wouldn't then humiliate himself in front of French Canadians when he attempts a speech.

 

[Jacknch]

As someone who is currently struggling to learn Hungarian, I quite agree that learning a language in adulthood is far more difficult to do than learning it as a child! French is much easier to learn and understand for an Englishman!

For William and other members of the Royal Family, I guess if he/they visited a country often enough he would do well to learn that country's language.

Lets remember, however, that us Brits do not all speak the languages of our kingdom's nations - Gaelic, Welsh, Manx, Cornish etc let alone the languages of our near neighbours such as the Irish, Dutch or French . Actually, more to the point we are not taught to speak them properly in our schools.

Speaking one or two phrases of the country you are visiting is always very much appreciated I think, but I have also found that they themselves wish to show off their own learning skills and command of English too, so it's a battle of wills!

I noticed recently that Emperor Akihito spoke Japanese during a speech on visit to the UK even though he speaks English. Other dignitaries from abroad often speak in their mother-tongue when in the UK - so William speaking English whilst in France doesn't seem unusual to me, although he managed a few sentences in his speech, and I think he might as well have continued.

 

[Lee-Z]

The distance between the Netherlands and Spain is certainly more than that yet if and when King Felipe and King Williem-Alexander meet, (and they have done on several occasions), they can converse in Spanish and English together. Would William be able to converse informally in German, Dutch or Spanish with King Willem? No, of course not!
.

I understand if you want to rant about P.William's lack of language skills but the comparison is not quite fair to him: Willem-Alexander has a german speaking family (father's side (and also grand father)) and spanish speaking inlaws (Maxima's family), so it's no surprise he has learned those languages over the years (English is a language that in the NL is taught in practically every school, so if you advance beyond primary school, you will have learned at least a few years of english).
I'd be very suprised if Felipe and W-A would talk in dutch, so why would William have to.

I often have the feeling that people (not specifically you) are more critical about their own royals than about "foreign" royals

 

[Mbruno]

The shortest distance between England and the continent of Europe is (across the Straits of Dover) a little over 33 kilometres or 18 miles.

The distance between the Netherlands and Spain is certainly more than that yet if and when King Felipe and King Williem-Alexander meet, (and they have done on several occasions), they can converse in Spanish and English together. Would William be able to converse informally in German, Dutch or Spanish with King Willem? No, of course not!

I would just say that the world is getting smaller each year and although English is indeed an international language, it's not very admirable to remain mono-lingual or to show off your terrible French when you are the future leader of a nation, and perhaps Commonwealth, in which many, many languages are spoken.

Even if foreigners to whom you speak are kind enough to speak to you in your own language, IMO a whole other world, in literature and the arts for example, opens up to you when you have another language under your belt. Why rely on other people's good will?

William would greatly benefit by knowing French, IMO, not least because he wouldn't then humiliate himself in front of French Canadians when he attempts a speech.

The problem IMHO is the school system in England where the last two years of school are highly specialized (with students taking only three or four subjects in great depth) and there are virtually no compulsory subject requirements.

I am not a fan either of the generalist High School as in the US (or Canada) where students have to study a large number of different subjects with little depth, but I believe that, for a well-rounded education, all students in years 11-12 should be required to take national language, one foreign language, at least one natural science and one social science, and another elective subject that may be an arts subject or another subject from any of the previous groups (for example, a second natural science, second social science, further math, or a third language). That is basically the model followed in the International Baccalaureate (IB), which, im my opinion, compares favorably to the English A-Level model.

 

[Mbruno]

I understand if you want to rant about P.William's lack of language skills but the comparison is not quite fair to him: Willem-Alexander has a german speaking family (father's side (and also grand father)) and spanish speaking inlaws (Maxima's family), so it's no surprise he has learned those languages over the years (English is a language that in the NL is taught in practically every school, so if you advance beyond primary school, you will have learned at least a few years of english).
I'd be very suprised if Felipe and W-A would talk in dutch, so why would William have to.

I often have the feeling that people (not specifically you) are more critical about their own royals than about "foreign" royals

I would be surprised also if Felipe had learned Dutch (or Swedish, or Danish for that matter), but, as a future European monarch, he learned French, as was the case with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. The fact that William doesn't speak at least French is deeply disappointing, especially considering that he will probably be one day the King of Canada, where French is one of the two national languages.

 

[Rudolph]

Of the British royals, it's only the Queen who we can say is proficient in French. Charles' French is heavily accented.

But William is a future British Monarch, not European.

As for Canada, it's a non-issue. It may be 'officially' bi-lingual but the reality on the ground is very different.

French speaking people are clustered into certain areas of the country. For example, where I live, I never ever hear French being used.

Nothing new here. We all know William doesn't speak much French.

Look at Amercian presidents. The most powerful country on earth and they seem to get by with 'just' English.

 

[Mbruno]

Of the British royals, it's only the Queen who we can say is proficient in French. Charles' French is heavily accented.

But William is a future British Monarch, not European.

As for Canada, it's a non-issue. It may be 'officially' bi-lingual but the reality on the ground is very different.

French speaking people are clustered into certain areas of the country. For example, where I live, I never ever hear French being used.

Nothing new here. We all know William doesn't speak much French.

Look at Amercian presidents. The most powerful country on earth and they seem to get by with 'just' English.

Well, as Boris Johnson said, the UK is leaving the European Union, but is not leaving Europe. As long as the UK is considered part of the European continent, the British monarch is also an European monarch.

On the issue of Canada, it is not my country, but, as I understand it, the prime minister of Canada nowadays is expected to be fluent in French even when he is from Alberta like Stephen Harper (that was not always the case BTW in the past, but it has been the case since the federal government became officially bilingual). Likewise, I'd imagine that the King of Canada, even though he may only go to Canada once every so many years, shoukl attempt to be bilingual too, at least out of respect for his 7.5 million or so French-speaking subjects. I agree , however, that it is not an imperative.

BTW I've never actually heard Charles speaking French, but, as accented as it may be, I'm pretty sure he must be much better than William. I heard that Camilla speaks French quite well, as she actually lived in French-speaking countries for a while.

 

[AdmirerUS]

Wouldn't a truly modern and worldly monarch be more than bilingual? And, JMO, but I think a lot of people have have moved past expecting no accent. Multi lingual, with or without an accent is more of what one sees in world leaders these days.

 

[titiromi]

English is not this compulsory than you said. It really depends on what career you do chose. For example, I m a training to become a judge this year and I will never need english for professionnal purpose. Yet, I studied it for intellectual purpose.

 

[Mbruno]

Wouldn't a truly modern and worldly monarch be more than bilingual? And, JMO, but I think a lot of people have have moved past expecting no accent. Multi lingual, with or without an accent is more of what one sees in world leaders these days.

Unfortunately, presidents of the United States have not been known for their foreign language skills. John Kerry and probably Mitt Romney were the last major presidential candidates who could honestly claim to speak a foreign language fluently as they both speak French. George W Bush spoke broken Spanish, but was not as fluent as his brother Jeb, who I am not counting. I don't think either Obama, Trump, Hillary or Bill Clinton speak any language other than English.

 

[Denville]

True, I've never heard that anyone seriously expects world leaders to speak several languages or without an accent. I'm sure most US Presidents in the last 40 years haven't...

 

[Skippyboo]

Still, William and Kate will sing the Welsh national anthem at the match today which some of the Welsh players don't even do.

There is a wide array of languages. William at least attempts to try and say a few words in the native language when abroad be it Mandarin in China or a First People tribe in Yellowknife

The Queen speaks fluent French because she had a French tutor as a little girl. She was also talk dance. She was taught things that a high born upper class lady who would be expected to marry well and live a life entertaining. If the Queen was a male, she would have been shipped off to the military as a teenager like her father and grandfather were.

 

[Marty91charmed]

The are contrasting takes in regards to Kate's level of the french language: the children in Somme said she speaks a really good deal of french, other say she can manage a conversation, but that's all, Rebecca English even stated Kate doesn't speak French at all. Someone must be lying. LOL

 

[xenobia]

I see that this thread is mostly focused on brittish royals, but I would like to give a great example of how it can be done.

Crown princess Victoria learned english in school. She's also spent time in the US (a year at Yale university). But she also spent a year in France in her late teens (if I remember correctly), and during her last visit to France there was an interpreter there for Daniel's sake. Victoria didn't need it. She also has a working knowledge of german, even if she doesn't speak it herself.

I think she really understands how important language skills are. That is reflected in their choice to hire a nanny from Australia. As far as I can understand, she and Estelle talked to each other in english.

Victoria isn't a perfect person. But I think she understands how important languages are, and she's already doing what she can to give her kids a head start in that department. That is an example that other could follow, royal or not.

 

[muriel]

Wouldn't a truly modern and worldly monarch be more than bilingual? And, JMO, but I think a lot of people have have moved past expecting no accent. Multi lingual, with or without an accent is more of what one sees in world leaders these days.

Not really. The world seems to have converged around English.

The reason many Europeans speak more than one language is that they have to, if they want to converse with anybody beyound their borders. That is just not relavent in the UK.

As regards languages in school, most UK schools will offer French and one other language till GCSE level. However, it tends not to get much beyond that level, and few young people these days bother with a foreign language. William, Catherine and Harry are not unique in this.

 

[Countessmeout]

Yes but William and Harry were not standard students, they are not average people Brits who do t have to worry about neighbouring countries. Nor is their education normal. Comparing them to a normal Brit is wrong.

They have all the money and access to tutors and studies. When you do your senior studies, and university, you focus on subjects for your career. For William that was being the future king. Taking studies on a foreign language would have been great.

Yes, French is only spoken in parts of Canada, but it's still spoken by millions. William is just as much the future king of people in Quebec and parts of the maritime and Ontario, as he is of the rest of Canada.

As for Gaelic, Manx and such, unlike French, none of these languages are use in standard practice any more. Though it wpuld be great if they knew some. Must say it's harder. Or at least for me. Learned a bit of welsh when I lived in Wales. Had a much easier time with Spanish, both which I studied as an adult. Bit that's because I studied French in school as a kid and that helped me adapt to Spanish which are so similar.

 

[TLLK]

I have also heard that George and Charlotte speak way better Spanish than they do English because Maria is teaching them Spanish and she is spending more time with them than anyone else (that isn't to say they aren't learning English but just that at this stage their Spanish is better). That would suggest that like earlier generations George and Charlotte are growing up bi-lingual whereas William was raised totally monolingual.

If they want the children to be at least bilingual than hiring a Spanish speaking caretaker was a wise move on their part. George might have started pre-school early to boost his English skills with other people outside of his family.

 

[GömdNatt]

I think a big difference between the Brits and other royals are that the other royal families generally have people from various countries in their family. Willem-Alexander married a Spanish-speaking Argentinian, is Dutch, and has a German father. So of course he speaks several languages. Frederik is Danish, but his father is French, his wife is Australian, and he also speaks German.

Whereas you don't really get that with the Brits (though to be sort of fair, they speak English which is the second language of most of the royals in Europe, so they have a "step up"). They are very English. That being said, being royal, you'd really think some sort of Foreign language would have/should have been pushed, if only Welsh or Irish (or Scottish Gaelic, if you ask me ).

 

[Florestane]

Language teaching in the UK nowadays is abysmal thanks to constant tinkering by various governments of the educational curriculum. William and Kate would however have had access to the best on offer in their respective schools.

Accent isn't an indication of fluency although obviously if it's really bad it is incomprehensible.

If George and Charlotte are being brought up bilingual then good for William and Kate - at least they are attempting to ensure their children don't suffer from the same "lack" they do. Spanish is a good choice as well given the number of speakers worldwide.

 

[Pranter]

English seems to be a common language taught pretty much world wide as far as I can tell. Not sure why there is such negative view of foreign leaders (whether they be monarchs or presidents or PM's etc) if aren't bi or multi-lingual?

Yes it's charming and al, when a leader speaks X language, l but surely it's a lesser issue in today's world?


LaRae

 

[Mbruno]

The Queen speaks fluent French because she had a French tutor as a little girl. She was also talk dance. She was taught things that a high born upper class lady who would be expected to marry well and live a life entertaining. If the Queen was a male, she would have been shipped off to the military as a teenager like her father and grandfather were.

I don't see the two things as incompatible. All European crown princes (Frederik, Felipe, Willem-Alexander, Haakon, Philippe, etc.) had military training. Still, they also took the time to learn other languages. You can actually learn a second language as a child or teenager (the best time to learn actually) before you are old enough to serve in the military.

 

[Muhler]

While English is indeed the Franca Lingua of the world right now, I personally believe it's always a good idea to at least be proficient in at least a second language.

Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic or French being major world languages as well.

Partly because it's a good way to earn brownie points, whether you come to a country as a royal, politician or just a tourist. It show interest and respect for the country you visit.
But also because learning a second language isn't just about knowing the word for horse and beer in various languages, but just as much about learning about cultures. It's almost impossible to really learn another language, without also learning about the culture and history and to a large degree the mindset of the country.

But the BRF are different. In the sense that they have always kept a distance to the Continent. And they are not rewarded for speaking other languages in the eyes of the British public.
The continental royals, just like their subjects, have to learn or at least know about at least one more language, simply out of necessity.
Partly because not that many speak Dutch or Swedish, but simply because you rarely have to drive for more than a couple of hours before you find yourself in another country.
Continental royals on the other hand are frowned upon by the public, if they only speak one language

 

[Mbruno]

I see that this thread is mostly focused on brittish royals, but I would like to give a great example of how it can be done.

Crown princess Victoria learned english in school. She's also spent time in the US (a year at Yale university). But she also spent a year in France in her late teens (if I remember correctly), and during her last visit to France there was an interpreter there for Daniel's sake. Victoria didn't need it. She also has a working knowledge of german, even if she doesn't speak it herself.

I think she really understands how important language skills are. That is reflected in their choice to hire a nanny from Australia. As far as I can understand, she and Estelle talked to each other in english.

Victoria isn't a perfect person. But I think she understands how important languages are, and she's already doing what she can to give her kids a head start in that department. That is an example that other could follow, royal or not.

As Muriel said, the importance of learning other languages is more or less obvious if your native language is, for example, Swedish. which has only 9 million or so native speakers and is not much spoken outside Sweden properly or Finland. Convincing a native speaker of English or, to some extent, even native speakers of French or Spanish (especially in parts of Latin America) that they should learn another language is, however, a much tougher task. Personally, I regret that people take a purely utilitarian approach when considering if they should or should not learn another language. Ideally, one should learn a foreign language simply for the sake of cultural enrichment or intellectual curiosity, but, in the real world, that is not what happens.

A different question is whether the State should make it compulsory to learn another language in school up to a certain age/grade, as it is normally compulsory to study Mathematics, Science or History for example in some school systems.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

After a critique I had here in the thread last night, and after reading the follow up discussion; I've changed my opinion a little in regards to William's limited French. I'm now of the opinion that:

Of course, it would be impossible for every royal to have a basic understanding of the language of the country they're visiting. But it's still worth a shot of simple key phrases; which is perhaps something that the Cambridges still remember from their education. I can imagine that they used them when they were in France as it's fairly easy to pick them up.

I still don't have a firm opinion on this now after reading the discussion because the different points have been argued well; so to put it more simply, half of me thinks that it's good to learn the key phrases whereas another half of me thinks that it's not a huge matter. Some other posters have most likely said what I want to say much better than how I would have.

 

[royal rob]

In Australia ..we have to teach a second language from prep to year 9 the school decides which one

 

[TLLK]

If George and Charlotte are being brought up bilingual then good for William and Kate - at least they are attempting to ensure their children don't suffer from the same "lack" they do. Spanish is a good choice as well given the number of speakers worldwide.

IMO they realize that their lack of fluency in a second language is a bit of a hindrance for them and they wanted to ensure that their children would be bilingual.

Currently at least four of the consorts (Maxima, Maria Theresa, Silvia, and of course Letizia) are native Spanish speakers. I believe that the AAA team from the NL was also raised with Spanish speaking nannies.

 

[Countessmeout]

IMO they realize that their lack of fluency in a second language is a bit of a hindrance for them and they wanted to ensure that their children would be bilingual.

Currently at least four of the consorts (Maxima, Maria Theresa, Silvia, and of course Letizia) are native Spanish speakers. I believe that the AAA team from the NL was also raised with Spanish speaking nannies.

Silvia speaks Spanish, she is said to be fluent in six, but she is not a native Spanish speaker.

German is her mother tongue. True, she spent a good chunk of her childhood in Brazil but Brazilians speak Portuguese not Spanish. She was educated in a German school in Brazil but she is said to be fluent in both. Spanish, Swedish, English and sign language are the others.

Her children are fluent in English and Swedish, and Victoria at least to some level in French. I believe they also have some understanding of German.