What Languages Do The Royals Speak?


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contessa said:
How do the royal children communicate with each other?
Like at Princess Victoria's wedding?
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I saw a doku about CP Victoria, and there was some scenes about her wedding-preparations. There was a very sweet moment when she explained something to the Princesses Ingrid-Alexandra and Catharina-Amalia in English. So I think they speak also English with eachother.
 
fortimo said:
As you a native German, did you understand all, what she said? Because I thought I am pretty good in German, but I didn't understand her every time. But IMO, she spoke very good, it takes time as long as somebody so good speaks, so I think she took a few german-lesson before it. Or she took some weeks or months to learn only this speech. Very impressive.
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I understood her really well. There were only some words that I didn't get immediately but in connection with the whole sentence I understood it.
As somebody who doesn't speak the language at all it is really impressive and a beautiful gesture!!

I remember that also Haakon held a speech in German when they were in Germany.
Found it: The Crown Prince and Crown Princess in Germany - YouTube
 
I saw an interview with Princess Grace on YouTube. She said she spoke to her children in English, Prince Rainier spoke to them in French, and they would speak to each other in French. I saw Prince Albert's from his wedding and he most definitely sounds American when he speaks English. I think Princess Stephanie does as well. Princess Caroline has more of a British accent .

I have seen Princess Mathilde speaking English with a French accent
Queen Paola has an Italian accent (no surprise :)) and King Albert also had a French accent when speaking English.
 
Someone asked earlier about the Duchess of Cambridge. She should have a working knowledge of Italian as she spent 3 months at the British Institute in Italy, where she had Italian lessons and studied Art History (this was prior to St Andrew's ). One language was compulsory at Marlborough chosen from French, Spanish or German. So again working knowledge, not necessarily fluent
 
I doubt the Duchess of Cambridge has a working knowledge of Italian. 3 months is not enough time to learn a language and not to mention her stay at Italy was such a long time ago that whatever Italian she may have learned she probably forgot about it already.
 
MidnightSonatta said:
I doubt the Duchess of Cambridge has a working knowledge of Italian. 3 months is not enough time to learn a language and not to mention her stay at Italy was such a long time ago that whatever Italian she may have learned she probably forgot about it already.
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I didn't say fluent I said working knowledge - she spent half a day every day in italian lessons - that should give her a working knowledge. I am not fluent in French but when I go thereto France each year I can generally understand and converse within a couple of days. She needed to learn as part of her Art History course in Italy.

But hey, if we disagree, we disagree.
 
I learn English within three month. When you are immerse in a culture and language, you can pick it up quickly. I was younger, that help
 
Juanita said:
Do you remember where and the channel of the documentary, to see if I can find it? :flowers:
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It was my understanding that HM is fluent in Greek still, both HM & HRH The Princess Irene use it together. HM King JC has stated publicly that he regrets not learning Greek
 
fortimo said:
I saw a doku about CP Victoria, and there was some scenes about her wedding-preparations. There was a very sweet moment when she explained something to the Princesses Ingrid-Alexandra and Catharina-Amalia in English. So I think they speak also English with eachother.
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And here is the video (it is german, by 8'50), there is said, that Princess Ingrid-Alexandra learned english, so she can speak with Catharina-Amalia):
ZDF-Royal: Die kleinen Königinnen kommen (2/3) - YouTube
 
Nice thread ! I have read that the Duchess of Cambridge can only speaks English.. Does anyone know is she speak another language?
 
BluePink said:
Nice thread ! I have read that the Duchess of Cambridge can only speaks English.. Does anyone know is she speak another language?
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I think she probably studied French at school and I suppose she has a working knowledge of this and maybe some other languages. Maybe she speaks only English fluently.
 
When she was a baby and toddler she live for a few years in Jordan. Arabic was Catherine first language. I don't think she speak it now (with the lost of practice you can lose fluency or knowledge of a language)
 
miche said:
When she was a baby and toddler she live for a few years in Jordan. Arabic was Catherine first language. I don't think she speak it now (with the lost of practice you can lose fluency or knowledge of a language)
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I doubt that Arabic was her first language just because she lived there. For that to be the case her parents would have had to be using that language to her all the time as well and I really don't see them doing that.

Living in a country doesn't mean that you learn that language.

Your first language will be the one that your family use around you all the time.

If her parents were using Arabic around her when living there then they would presumably have continued to use that language but as the evidence suggests that she is no longer able to speak the language which suggests again that she wasn't exposed to it all that much and certainly not enough to call it a first language.
 
Prinsessan said:
Finally I came across a video of Crown Princess Victoria speaking German more than two words ;)

The kids are singing a funny version of the "Happy birthday" song, and she replies that she has never heard this before. Her German sounds so good that I am wondering why she didn't make any speeches in German when she came here in 2011!
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That video is hilarious,she is speaking without accent-wow!She has a talent for languages and certainly her mother tought her a lot.The song is funny too,translated the rhyme would mean "Happy Birthday to you,Happy Birthday to you,marmelade(jam) in the shoes,apricots in the trousers,Happy birthday to you" *lol*
 
Iluvbertie said:
I doubt that Arabic was her first language just because she lived there. For that to be the case her parents would have had to be using that language to her all the time as well and I really don't see them doing that.

Living in a country doesn't mean that you learn that language.

Your first language will be the one that your family use around you all the time.

If her parents were using Arabic around her when living there then they would presumably have continued to use that language but as the evidence suggests that she is no longer able to speak the language which suggests again that she wasn't exposed to it all that much and certainly not enough to call it a first language.
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I think miche wanted to say Arabic was her first foreign language-we say that the language spoken by our family is our mother tongue and than you have a first,second,third...language from another country.
 
Princess Anne speaks French; she took it at boarding school and the summer she turned 19.
 
chen bao jun said:
Also, some (I know Americans have this tendency and I believe the French do too) tend to feel that a person cannot really speak their language if they have a thick foreign accent even if they can understand everything the person says and can be understood by them. While others are more forgiving. And a good or even great accent accent actually can little to do with true fluency!
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I have to agree that it seems that many Americans might seem to feel that way!

I however am not one of them as I have so much respect for anyone who takes the time to learn a language or even "tests the waters" while attempting to learn another language! It is not easy to do so -English is a hard language (from what friends who speak it as a second language tell me) to learn. I have so much respect for others as I myself struggle to learn languages due to hearing problems... So I am always in awe of those who can speak more than one language, let alone four or five.
 
All Dutch Royals,as well as most of their 'subjects'..are polyglotts.

Except english,german,french which all speak affluent,Italian & Spanish are the other favorites in the RF,and without the fat accent as some here call it...Now,..how,many languages does any of you speak...without a fat accent that is..?..:whistling::ROFLMAO:
 
sarahedwards2 said:
Princess Anne speaks French; she took it at boarding school and the summer she turned 19.
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Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, as reported here, speak French very well. Their children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward all speak, at the very least, passable French.

This is because of the BRFs (includes the Queen Mother) strong ties to Canada - which has 2 official languages, English and French.

It's likely that the Queen has 'strongly encouraged' all of her grandchildren to have a real grounding in French as well - William spoke it passably during the 2011 tour of Canada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs2YfA1D4ns
 
All members of the Brazilian Imperial Family are poliglots. I believe this is a consequence of still having Dynastic Marriages. It's easier to learn of foreign language when your family members come from Royal Houses from all over Europe.

Prince Luiz, Head of the Brazilian Imperial House, speaks Portuguese, French, German, Spanish, Italian and English.
 
I wonder which languages does Queen Sofia of Spain speak with her siblings. With King Contantine probably in english and greek, and with Princess Irene spanish and greek. Does anyone have any idea what languages this family speaks?
 
With Charles and Anne the fact that they speak French has nothing to do with the association with Canada but the fact that at the time they were at school all well-educated children learnt French. Andrew also certainly studied French at school.

I had a friend, in the mid-70s, who spent the first three years of her high school life at school in the UK and she told us that French was a compulsory subject in English schools at the time - she had been studying it for 7 years when she arrived to join us who had been studying it only for 2 and she was probably better than our teacher in many ways. As the Queen's children overlaps mine due to me being agewise between Anne and Andrew I believe that they would have studied it at school because they had to do so.
 
CanRoyal said:
Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, as reported here, speak French very well. Their children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward all speak, at the very least, passable French.

This is because of the BRFs (includes the Queen Mother) strong ties to Canada - which has 2 official languages, English and French.

It's likely that the Queen has 'strongly encouraged' all of her grandchildren to have a real grounding in French as well - William spoke it passably during the 2011 tour of Canada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs2YfA1D4ns
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Canada has only officially been bilingual since 1982. The decision to learn French prior to then amongst both Canadians and the BRF was not mandatory, nor necessarily a concession to French Canadians.

The BRF's French language skills are more likely owing to the fact that French was a traditional language to learn for the upper classes.
 
Ish said:
Canada has only officially been bilingual since 1982. The decision to learn French prior to then amongst both Canadians and the BRF was not mandatory, nor necessarily a concession to French Canadians.

The BRF's French language skills are more likely owing to the fact that French was a traditional language to learn for the upper classes.
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The Official Languages Act of 1969 gave English and French equal status in the government of Canada, making them "official" languages. First paragraph here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Languages_Act_(Canada)

And nowhere in my previous post did I say that speaking French was a concession to French Canadians or mandated by anyone in the BRF. I stated only that the Queen's children speak French and that French language skills were likely "strongly encouraged" by the Queen.
 
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CanRoyal said:
The Official Languages Act of 1969 gave English and French equal status in the government of Canada, making them "official" languages. First paragraph here: Official Languages Act (Canada) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And nowhere in my previous post did I say that speaking French was a concession to French Canadians or mandated by anyone in the BRF. I stated only that the Queen's children speak French and that French language skills were likely "strongly encouraged" by the Queen.
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This is what you wrote in your earlier post #383
This is because of the BRFs (includes the Queen Mother) strong ties to Canada - which has 2 official languages, English and French.
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clearly implying that the reason the BRF learnt French was due to their ties with Canada and its 2 official languages.
 
What about the egypt royals in the time when they reign ? the family was albanian/turkish but mostly turkish and the country was arab. İ heard that the last kink farouk fluent turkish french and english speak but arab ?? any idea
queen farida was with turkish roots and she was perfect speak turkish
 
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