What Languages Do The Royals Speak?


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KikkiB

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I'm interested in linguistics, and have always wondered about how many languages the royals speak. Obviously they speak the language in the countries they "reign", but how about other languages?

Queen Sonja speaks English and French fluently (and Norwegian of course:) )
And King Harald, CP Haakon and CP Mette-Marit speaks English (it is obligatory to learn English in Norwegian schools). But do they speak German as well?

Queen Silvia speaks German, English and Swedish, and I think I read somewhere (don't know exactly where and when) that she also speak French, Spanish (or was it Italian) and Portugese. She's educated as an interpreter so she must know some languages.

Queen Margrethe speaks English, French, Swedish and German (as her sister married a German fellow). And CP Frederik and Prince Joachim speaks French and English also, don't know about German, but I find it likely. CP Mary speaks Danish and English (obviously), but what else? And I read somewhere (still don't remember where and when) that Princess Alexandra speaks something like 7 languages :eek: , English, German, French, Chinese, Danish, Italian (and/or Spanish)...

Well, this is what I know. Help me fill out the list and ad more royals:) I would guess that most royals speak English as it is the "universal" language.
 
Queen Silvia - Swedish, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and English
Crown Princess Victoria - Swedish, English, German, French
 
KikkiB said:
I'm interested in linguistics, and have always wondered about how many languages the royals speak. Obviously they speak the language in the countries they "reign", but how about other languages?

Queen Sonja speaks English and French fluently (and Norwegian of course:) )
And King Harald, CP Haakon and CP Mette-Marit speaks English (it is obligatory to learn English in Norwegian schools). But do they speak German as well?

Queen Silvia speaks German, English and Swedish, and I think I read somewhere (don't know exactly where and when) that she also speak French, Spanish (or was it Italian) and Portugese. She's educated as an interpreter so she must know some languages.

Queen Margrethe speaks English, French, Swedish and German (as her sister married a German fellow). And CP Frederik and Prince Joachim speaks French and English also, don't know about German, but I find it likely. CP Mary speaks Danish and English (obviously), but what else? And I read somewhere (still don't remember where and when) that Princess Alexandra speaks something like 7 languages :eek: , English, German, French, Chinese, Danish, Italian (and/or Spanish)...

Well, this is what I know. Help me fill out the list and ad more royals:) I would guess that most royals speak English as it is the "universal" language.
Yes, Frederik speaks German, I heard him speak it resently when he was in Germany.

From what I've read Mathilde speaks French, Flemish, English, and Italian, and I believe I've read that Philippe speaks French, Flemish, German, English, Italian, and Spanish, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. :)
 
GrandDuchess said:
Queen Silvia - Swedish, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and English
Crown Princess Victoria - Swedish, English, German, French
Queen Silvia also know sign language.
 
Regarding the British Royal Family:
- The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh speak fluent French (and I read somewhere that sometimes when they want a private conversation when other non-French speakers are around, they begin speaking in French to each other!)
- The Prince of Wales speaks Welsh.
- The late Princess of Wales spoke Welsh, and sign language.
- Prince William is currently learning Welsh and Swahali.
 
Maxima speaks english, spanish and dutch
Mary speaks english, french and danish
 
As far as i know King Mohamed VI speaks Arabic, French, English and Spanish
 
I think Astrid and Lorenz´s children all speak French, Dutch, German and the older ones English.

Princess Caroline- English, French, Italian, German
 
Grand Duchess Maria Teresa speaks [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lëtzebuergesch [the official language of Luxembourg], German, French, Italian, Spanish, and some English.[/font]

Grand Duke Henri speaks [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lëtzebuergesch, German, French, and English.[/font]

Lollies!
-Kara-
 
I got magazine of Princess Diana about sign languages but she little not lots! im not sure what name is!

what languages Diana have it?

Sara Boyce
 
I think Diana could only speak English.
 
Princess Alexandra of Denmark speaks Danish, English, French, German, Cantonese, and i think Japanese (cuz she was there about 3 years to study)
 
Nichola said:
Regarding the British Royal Family:
- The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh speak fluent French (and I read somewhere that sometimes when they want a private conversation when other non-French speakers are around, they begin speaking in French to each other!)
- The Prince of Wales speaks Welsh.
- The late Princess of Wales spoke Welsh, and sign language.
- Prince William is currently learning Welsh and Swahali.
Diana learnt Welsh and Sign Language.

I remember footage of her being given Freedom of the City and she gave a short speech in English, then translated it into Welsh.

In Hello Magazine this week, there is a photo of Edward and Sophie leaving a class, and it says they have been learning French together since last year.
 
CP Willem-Alexander speaks a very perfect German and in addition I think he also speaks of course English and maybe French.
 
The majority of royals speak English...if they are from a country like Sweden or Denmark then they learn that language first.

Queen Margrethe speaks perferct English without an accent...It is astounding to hear her as she sounds American. CP Frederick has a slight accent when speaking English as does Prince Nikolas and King Constantine.

Grand Duke Henri has a slight accent as well when speaking English.

Of course, Prince Albert....totally American sounding when he talks as English was his first language.

I am sure Maxima and Wilhelm spoke English when they first met as she did not know Dutch...the same for Frederick and Mary...in English too. The same with Pavlos and MC...English was spoken and not Greek.

Queen Sofia..the same..perfect English.

Most British Royals up until QEII's generation spoke German first. English came along later. Most spoke with a German accent in English.

Remember that the British Royals to this day are still looked upon by their aristocracy as being german and not english.

If any of you can, catch the series on WE in America called Royal Families of the World, it is excellent because they focus on a family a week and you can hear many of them speaking.
 
The trio Casiraghi (Andrea, Pierre and Charlotte) talk: french, italian, English and a bit of German
 
As far as I know Queen Sofia of Spain speaks: Greek (she was born in Greece), German (She studied in Germany), English (rumor has it that she always speaks English with the Prince and the Infantas), French and Spanish (the last one she learned).

King Juan Carlos speaks Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, English and Catalan.

According to this website http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~ofohrman/spafamesp.html, Infanta Cristina speaks Spanish, English, French, Greek and Catalan (she lives in Barcelona).
 
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I've heard or better yet read that some people believe that Maxima doesn't speak very well dutch. That she speaks it with a spanish accent. Well spanish accents diver from wich country you are. Maxima from Argentina and their they speak spanish in a different accent than in Spain. Also they is a difference between duth and flemish. It's not that if you come from Belgium (where we speak flemish in flanders) that people from the Netherlands won't understand us. We speak in different accent. It's like comparing english spoken in te USA and english in Australia. From mine point of view Maxima speak perfect dutch, without an accent. Maybe if you have heard flemish people speak you might think that she speaks it with a heavy spanish (Spain spanish) accent. Mathilde is improven her flemish very well. She still speaks it with a french accent but at least she speaks it, understands it and so do we. I hope that my opinion doesn't come across as offensive. It is just an opinion.
 
HMQueenElizabethII said:
Queen Elizabeth II can speak English and French.

True, and I have to say that her French is very good!
 
Solange said:
I've heard or better yet read that some people believe that Maxima doesn't speak very well dutch. That she speaks it with a spanish accent. Well spanish accents diver from wich country you are. Maxima from Argentina and their they speak spanish in a different accent than in Spain. Also they is a difference between duth and flemish. It's not that if you come from Belgium (where we speak flemish in flanders) that people from the Netherlands won't understand us. We speak in different accent. It's like comparing english spoken in te USA and english in Australia. From mine point of view Maxima speak perfect dutch, without an accent. Maybe if you have heard flemish people speak you might think that she speaks it with a heavy spanish (Spain spanish) accent. Mathilde is improven her flemish very well. She still speaks it with a french accent but at least she speaks it, understands it and so do we. I hope that my opinion doesn't come across as offensive. It is just an opinion.

I´ve never heard Maxima talk (and i don´t know dutch), but you´re right about the accents. They deliver from countries. Definitly a Spanish accent is different to a Latinoamerican, and into Latinoamerica there are difference between the accents: a colombian doesn´t speak like an argentinian. Also argentianians speak loud and with accent in the last letters.So perhaps that is what they note of her dutch
I don´t think that your opinion is offensive;)
 
I know that MC of Greece's greek is supposed to be terrible.

And someone please correct me if I an wrong, but I thought Danish and Dutch were supposed to be difficult to learn so as an American, we normally do not speak more than on language - never mind what we had to take in high school, I applaud Mary and Maxima's efforts.
 
His Lordship said:
Queen Margrethe speaks perferct English without an accent...It is astounding to hear her as she sounds American.

I've heard people say that Margrethe has a more British accent, and that even some British people can't tell that she's not British.
Personally I think her English is more British, and that she has an accent although it's not much. But I guess it's only a matter of opinion what people think others sound like, and that where they're from has a bearing on their opinion :).
 
no offense, but i beg to differ. i too live in america, and have lived in just about every region of america. depending on what region you live in, chances are, you'll probably be able to speak/understand more than one language, perhaps even two. it just depends on the cultures that live in the area and how long they've been there in that area. some examples, look at the west cost, the southwest, and the south. you'll see not only european, but asian, and african influences on the ppl that live there, including the dialects. it's what speaking "american", as some of my british friends call it, is. solange put it nicely too. anywho, back on topic. imo, henri has a pretty thick accent when speaking english, and margrethe does sound british, she threw me for a loop when i heard her speak english for the first time.
 
Prince Albert of Monaco speaks English fluently and with an American accent ^___^
 
The Danish royal family speak English with a British accent
 
Mette2 said:
I've heard people say that Margrethe has a more British accent, and that even some British people can't tell that she's not British.
Personally I think her English is more British, and that she has an accent although it's not much. But I guess it's only a matter of opinion what people think others sound like, and that where they're from has a bearing on their opinion :).

Queen Margrethe went to school in England, first from 1955-1956 at North Foreland Lodge Boarding school in Hampshire. Then she had one year at Cambridge and one year at LSE. So there is a logical explanation to her British accent (And in my opinion Danes have some problems when speaking English due to their glottal pronounciation, often heard in Frederiks English).

from: www.kongehuset.dk
 
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