What languages do the British Royals know?

[Claire]

I think that Sophie also had a good knowledge of Welsh. Her father, uncle and brother are fluent - so I take the liberty to say that she probably knows it better than the Prince of Wales.
Edward and Sophie were taken refresher courses in Advance French at the Language Institute in London a few years ago.

 

[milla Ca]

The Queen would have some knowledge of German though wouldn't she? She was learning the language up until 1939 so she'd know the basics.

I don´t know if she has some knowledge in German, but when she was here some years ago for a state visit, i didn´t hear her speaking a word in German.
And i think if she could speak the language, she maybe has made a little speech in German.

I know that when Charles visited Hamburg many years ago, he made a speech in German, and i´ve also heard him reading his book ´The old man of Lochnagar´in German. I love it to hear his German...

 

[Anonymoose]

Can I ask what languages British royal from the past spoke?
F.ex. Kings George VI, Edward VII, VIII and Queens Victoria, Alexandra, Mary, Elizabeth (Queen Mother) etc. Anyone know that?

For the first years of her life Victoria only spoke German (her mother was German and did not speak much English at the time), apparently this affected her speech and she still used strange idioms in later life.

Since the Hanovers were Germans the all spoke German (3 of George III's sons attended school in Hanover) and also French because that was the Court language at the time.

George IV could speak Italian as well.

I think most of the Royal family learnt German until the 1st World War when relations with Germany became extremely bad and George V changed the family name to Windsor.

 

[HRH_Liz]

When did Harry take Spanish lessons? He definitely had Latin and French because Eton requires them. But I've never read anything about him having Spanish lessons.

Beatrice definitely had French because her school requires it. Eugenie probably took it though her school offers other languages. There's no reason to believe either Beatrice or Eugenie took Latin. Neither of their schools (St George's and Marlborough) require it.

I am still new and learing. Can you please tell me what is Eton? Is that the school that Harry attended? Thanks

 

[magnik]

I am still new and learing. Can you please tell me what is Eton? Is that the school that Harry attended? Thanks

The King's College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is an internationally renowned public school (privately funded and independent) for male students, founded in 1440 by Henry VI.
It is located in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor in England, situated north of Windsor Castle, and is one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868.

http://www.etoncollege.com/Splash.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eton_College

 

[lilytornado]

What languages does Camilla speak?

 

[lord_rankin]

While researching information for George V I learned that he knew no other languages fluently the closest he came to one was German because his father and Grand mother spoke it like natives according to Kaiser Wilhelm II's friend Eulenburg.

 

[BeatrixFan]

Camilla speaks English and French, I'm not sure what other languages she speaks though.

 

[kpusa1981]

I went looking a bit further and came up with the following site:

http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/princes/william/w18_15_eton.html

According to this information his GSCEs were in

French, Latin, Biology, English, English Literature, Geography, History, Spanish, Maths and Additional French. The Prince also studied Divinity, Chemistry and Physics, along with courses in Art, Music and Design, as well as PE.

Additional French?
I didn't know they anything called additional French, however I know they have further maths. I always thought he the two Foriegn Languages and Latin, English, English Literture, Geography, History, Maths and further Maths.

 

[coco]

Does anybody know which languages Diana spoke?
Did she speak french too? And maybe german?
I think she spoke french . . .

 

[caterpillarandcat]

Thats nice, it's good to be culturally diverse.

 

[Saragli]

Does the Duchess of Cornwall speak any other languages?

 

[Mermaid1962]

The story is that she wore Chanel upon arriving the first time in France because she didn't speak French and wanted to distract people from that. It must have worked, because her not knowing French wasn't an issue--at least that I'm aware of.

Does anybody know which languages Diana spoke?
Did she speak french too? And maybe german?
I think she spoke french . . .

 

[pacomartin]

Popularly it is claimed that the last native speaker of Cornish was Dolly Pentreath , who died in 1777. Notwithstanding her reported last words, "Me ne vidn kewsel Sowsnek!" ("I will not speak English!"), she spoke at least some English as well as fluent Cornish and may well have been one of the last to do so before the revival of the language in the 20th century. I don't think that the Queen speaks French in her public speeches. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HnePKE9AAE

 

[Mermaid1962]

She speaks French in speeches when she's in Canada. It would be undiplomatic if she didn't.

 

[principessa]

Which languages do The Duchess of Cambridge speak?

 

[EIIR]

She'll probably have at least some French as schoolchildren have to study it until they're at least 16 in the UK. She'll likely have studied one of the other 'modern languages', which in the UK means Spanish or German, for at least a few years.

Having attended an independent school, she's also likely to have studied at least some Latin. I went to a girls grammar school, and Latin was compulsory for the first 2 years of high school, although you could study it longer.

Kate also spent parts of her gap year in Chile and Italy, so she might have some Spanish and Italian through that. She'll probably try to learn some Welsh as a future Princess of Wales. I think she sang the national anthem in Welsh in Anglesey for her first public engagement.

 

[Mermaid1962]

Yes, she did. That one act showed me that she was serious about her role as probably-one-day being The Princess of Wales.

I think she sang the national anthem in Welsh in Anglesey for her first public engagement.

 

[Vasillisos Markos]

I think the Queen understands some Greek too and most likely picked it up from Prince Philip. Some friends told me of an (apocryphal) incident in Canada where a group of high school girls was presented to Her Majesty and they were to curtsy as the Queen passed. One girl, of Greek descent, flubbed her curtsy and muttered a Greek expression for "f*** it" under her breath. The Queen reportedly smiled at her and said, "Oh, you must be Greek."

 

[chen bao jun]

QEII speaks fluent French--there is another thread somewhere on here about royals and languages (not specifically the British royals) and there were links to her giving a speech in French, very fluent though with a bit of an accent.

I know that in the 1970's French people preferred British English--in the family I lived with, the hostess asked me politely not to speak English to the children so that they would not get contaminated with my American accent. I was quite surprised, as it was the first time in my life I had had someone refer to my accent as being undesirable. I am always told that I enunciate very clearly and pronounce and differentiate between my consonants--but I suppose she wanted her children to have RP. They were very far from that--their English was horrible and not understandable at all--and I assume it remained so. I think nowadays French people who speak English well as just as likely to speak a standard American as a standard British, though--at least the ones that I meet.
It's interesting how people get snobbish about accents in languages they don't know--often not knowing the cultural context--but I don't want to threadjack.
I think how much the French admire the British monarchy depends on their social class. the families that we lived with in France in the 1970's tended to be extremely royalist and Catholic and I thought all French people were like that when I lived there but French people I have met since then all say that actually such people are rather unusual in France nowadays. I don't know what the truth is--I only know what the (small selection) of people that I know say adn I don't feel I can depend on that.

 

[VictoriaB]

I thought it interesting that when Charles & Camilla were in Northern Ireland recently he told someone he was learning Arabic.

No offence to anyone here but I'm sure there are easier languages to learn (ie that have a similar foundation to English) and it's not as if he would need to learn it for religious reasons. To me it shows he is someone genuinely interested in the language and culture that he would take the time to learn a new and very different language at 60+.

I was watching the Diamond Queen on Sunday night and the British Foreign Secretary was making the point about the importance of the middle east and its growth during the Queen's reign. I wonder if the Prince's interest in the language is in any way connected to this and the fact he will one day be King.

 

[EIIR]

I know that in the 1970's French people preferred British English

You mean proper English? Just joking, before anyone gets upset!

In all honesty, I think more and more people who speak English as a second language do so with an American twang, because American films and TV are so ubiquitous now.

Oddly, I think Norwegians and Danes generally speak it with an English accent. Some Scandinavians speak English so well that you could almost forget that they're not British.

 

[Tsar bobo Iv]

i think they mostly study to speak french Spanish German
and basically all European languages i wonder if the speak any Asian languages

 

[EIIR]

I thought it interesting that when Charles & Camilla were in Northern Ireland recently he told someone he was learning Arabic.

No offence to anyone here but I'm sure there are easier languages to learn (ie that have a similar foundation to English) and it's not as if he would need to learn it for religious reasons. To me it shows he is someone genuinely interested in the language and culture that he would take the time to learn a new and very different language at 60+.

I was watching the Diamond Queen on Sunday night and the British Foreign Secretary was making the point about the importance of the middle east and its growth during the Queen's reign. I wonder if the Prince's interest in the language is in any way connected to this and the fact he will one day be King.

I think it's more the fact that Charles has an interest in Islam and the culture of the Middle East.

 

[RoyalistRiley]

Does the Duchess of Cornwall speak any other languages?

She speaks a bit of French at 1:34 in this video, but I'm not sure if you actually can communicate in the language or was just reading it off a page

Canada 2012: The Duchess of Cornwall gives a speech at The Queen's Own Rifles Canada - YouTube

 

[hernameispekka]

This is all very interesting. I knew the Queen spoke french and refuses an interpreter for that language.

William, after listening to his speeches in Canada in French probably is like me. I read Spanish for 6 years and got good grades in it. Now, just a few years later I can barely string a sentence together. I think he is kind of like that, but if he started studying it again it might come back faster.

I heard rumors Catherine knew french and as someone above said, it is very probably that she studied it in school. But I wonder if she might be better than William. As I understand it, the president of France speaks little to none english. In Belgium last year Catherine was seen conversing with him. Could it be that she is fluent enough to hold a conversation?

 

[kbk]

Are you sure that Philip speaks Greek? He surely has some knowledge of the language but is it fluent? I doubt that.

Surely the Queen is an excellent French speaker. But stating that, for example, Camilla, speaks French just because she read somewhere publicly a couple of lines in French, is an overstatement. I've learned Russian and German at school years ago and I know how to read, more or less, texts in those languages, how to pronounce the words, but I certainly have very basic knowledge of them. Does it mean I speak German and Russian?

Compare the Windsors to their counterparts from the continent in foreign languages fluency. They are like their poor relatives. It's basically because of the supremacy of English around the world, as it is true lingua franca of our times. They do'nt have to learn other languages to communicate with most of the world, and the other Royals have to speak at least English. But in past times, knowledge of a couple of foreign languages was a standard for the higher class.

 

[sthreats]

May 27 2013 Camilla gave a complete speech in French to the charity Emmaus. In she does say excuse her 'school ' French.

How many languages does the Prince of Wales speak?

 

[muriel]

How many languages does the Prince of Wales speak?

I suspect he speaks English, French, German and was learning Arabic.

 

[fandesacs2003]

I do not think Prince Philip speaks Greek, or very little. He grow up quite awaw from Greece, and out of the usual stay at Athos mountain / monastery he almost never comes in Greece. He little saw his father during his childhood and I strongly doubt that Pc Andrew of Greece talked to him in Greek,
Despite his "greek roots" Prince Philip never seems "keen of. Greece", at least it is the impression we have here in Greece.
I think he dpeaks German, quite all his sisters were married to german princes.
QEII speacs extremely well french, the Prince of Walles also. As for William his french is a catastrophy, i do not know if he speaks another language, maybe spanish? Didn't he spend one year in Chlii?
Pc Michael of Kent speaks absolutely fluently russian.