Languages of the Royal Family

[H.M. Margrethe]

Originally Posted by lucien

And again I say,they stayed with the parents of Queen Anne-Marie,she did not benefit from the danish taxpayers at any one time,staying with your parents is allowed the world over as far as I know,regardless.So after that short intermezzo they went to live in the UK.Not the most well to do of Royal Families,the Family received support from,ao,the late Sjah.

Your respons also implies the silly understanding that she can't really ever stay with her sister at Amalienborg or Frederiksborg or Marselisborg,Graasten to name but a few of the Danish Royal Palaces,what total nonsense.Anne-Marie is still very much loved in Danmark,the money isn't an issue at all.We here in the OLD WORLD don't have that chronic fictation on tax that those across the pond do seem to suffer from.

As i am a Dane i can only say that it tru what you are saying lucien.
I do like queen Annemarie and King Konstantin of Greece.

[Sean.~]

My response implies nothing of the sort. We are talking about years ago, when the exile was relatively new. More importanlty, a married woman,her husband,and their several children living (not visiting)with*her* parents *isn't* the norm in most places. It doesn't mater how much she is loved. Visiting is one thing while living on a permanent or semi-permanent basis is quite another.

It is even less the norm when the woman in question is married to what, at the time, was a controversial political figure, while her father was the head of state of another country where the politics were quite different.

Yes, Constantine was supported by the Shah. Hardly something to brag about. He also allegedly had an affair with the Shah's wife (also well known). The Shah was hardly a champion of democracy and human rights and, this, made Constantine an even more controvesial figure.

[H.M. Margrethe]

Originally Posted by Sean.~

My response implies nothing of the sort. We are talking about years ago, when the exile was relatively new. More importanlty, a married woman,her husband,and their several children living (not visiting)with*her* parents *isn't* the norm in most places. It doesn't mater how much she is loved. Visiting is one thing while living on a permanent or semi-permanent basis is quite another.

It is even less the norm when the woman in question is married to what, at the time, was a controversial political figure, while her father was the head of state of another country where the politics were quite different.

Yes, Constantine was supported by the Shah. Hardly something to brag about. He also allegedly had an affair with the Shah's wife (also well known). The Shah was hardly a champion of democracy and human rights and, this, made Constantine an even more controvesial figure.

Sean I woud like to know wher you are living in the world?
I know that you think that Annemarie and Konstantin was living on behaf of the Danes and that they was supported by the tax,BUT did you know that they recivede money from the late queen Ingrid when they was "living" her in Denmark?
The money was not from the Danish taxpayers BUT from the inheritance queen Ingrid had from her farther and her great parrents in England and Sweden.

[kelly9480]

It doesn't matter whether Ingrid gave them money, they were living in accomodation paid for by the Danish taxpayers. They weren't entitled to that after Anne-Marie surrendered her place in line to the throne. If Ingrid had set them up in a private house, where they lived off their money and Ingrid's private fortune, that would have been one thing, but they were living in a residence reserved for the royal house (that Anne-Marie was no longer a part of) and paid for by the taxpayers.

[kelly9480]

Originally Posted by H.M. Margrethe

Does that mean that you don´t think she is entitled to vissiting her olde country any more?

No. That means she's not entitled to live off the Danish taxpayers' money. She can visit Denmark all she likes, and when she visits, she can stay in the palace. But they weren't visiting Denmark. They were living there. And she can't live in a palace reserved for a royal house she's no longer a member of. If she had moved into a private residence, paid for from private funds, no one could have complained because, as controversial as Constantine was, it would not have been a public matter. The moment they moved into the royal palace, it became a public matter, and the public made it clear they didn't want to pay for the Greeks.

[H.M. Margrethe]

Originally Posted by kelly9480

No. That means she's not entitled to live off the Danish taxpayers' money. She can visit Denmark all she likes, and when she visits, she can stay in the palace. But they weren't visiting Denmark. They were living there. And she can't live in a palace reserved for a royal house she's no longer a member of. If she had moved into a private residence, paid for from private funds, no one could have complained because, as controversial as Constantine was, it would not have been a public matter. The moment they moved into the royal palace, it became a public matter, and the public made it clear they didn't want to pay for the Greeks.

And you know this from..?

[kelly9480]

Originally Posted by KikkiB

What about other royal guests, family or no family, they also "benefit" from the Danish people's tax money. If we should only "pay for" the royal families living in the specific countries they are royal family to, it would not be any fun, because it will mean that they can't travel anywhere, in order to not be "a burden" to any other country's people's tax money.

There seems to be a failure to differentiate between visiting another royal house, and living with another royal house. When a foreign royal visits, they usually stay with the resident royals. When they move to another country, they don't.

For example, when Haakon was studying in London for a year, he stayed in a private flat, paid for by the Norwegian royal house. When he visited London last October, he was on an official visit and stayed in royal accomodation, paid for by the British royal house.

[kelly9480]

Originally Posted by H.M. Margrethe

And you know this from..?

Are you honestly going to try to deny that Anne-Marie and her family moved in with her mother? Are you honestly going to try to deny that comments were made about her living off the Danes? Do you honestly believe the Danes would have complained about her living in private accomodation? Constantine may have been an embarrassment, but private living arrangements aren't the public's business.

[Sean.~]

Originally Posted by H.M. Margrethe

Sean I woud like to know wher you are living in the world?
I know that you think that Annemarie and Konstantin was living on behaf of the Danes and that they was supported by the tax,BUT did you know that they recivede money from the late queen Ingrid when they was "living" her in Denmark?
The money was not from the Danish taxpayers BUT from the inheritance queen Ingrid had from her farther and her great parrents in England and Sweden.

If you go back and read my post you will see I wrote 'the notion/optics of them benefiting from the Danish taxpayers whether in reality or in perception'.

The fact is that they lived under a roof that was maintained with $$ from the Danish taxpayer. No matter how much you change your argument it doesn't change the fact that it wasn't politically savvy for them to live in Denmark for the reasons elucidated previously.

[ldt20]

The official website of the Greek Royal family states that at home they speak Greek. The three older children speak Greek fluently and that the two youngest are learning very quickly.

You can read this under Queen Anne-Marie's profile

http://www.greekroyalfamily.org/index.cfm?get=family

[Daytona]

Konstantinos,Pavlos and Nikolaos speak Greek.I think Nikolaos speaks Greek very fluently compared to Konstantinos and Pavlos from what i understand from interviews.Konstantinos is using older Greek and not modern something i utterly approve,from when he was reignining and addressing to people or parliament but he doesnt speak as a native,he confuses some words.Anna Maria knows a few greek words in a foreign accent.

[Piaa]

Pavlos greek is excellent esp since he did not grow up in Greece.

[greatlakescounty]

everyone gets sooooooooo touchy. please keep this enjoyable for all and lets put our ego's aside. thank you

[Toledo]

Originally Posted by greatlakescounty

everyone gets sooooooooo touchy. please keep this enjoyable for all and lets put our ego's aside. thank you

I have to say that for your first post in here you just made me laugh! :)
Thanks...and welcome! :p

[Philippe Egalite']

Originally Posted by Daytona

Konstantinos,Pavlos and Nikolaos speak Greek.I think Nikolaos speaks Greek very fluently compared to Konstantinos and Pavlos from what i understand from interviews.Konstantinos is using older Greek and not modern something i utterly approve,from when he was reignining and addressing to people or parliament but he doesnt speak as a native,he confuses some words.Anna Maria knows a few greek words in a foreign accent.

Let be fair Daytona. There are hardly 5-10,000 (barely 1:1000) Greeks from within Greece and all over the world who can speak decent and grammatically correct Greek. These people come from middle and upper-middle class background and have usually attended such schools as Peiramatikon, Varvakeion, Athens College and Moraitis School. Over 90% of Greeks nowadays, even in Athens, speak a barbaric Greek, with a peasant accent. In all fairness, former king Constantine speaks Greek well or well enough for a person who was not intellectually inclined (as he acknowledges frequently) and had only high-school education.

[Menarue]

Originally Posted by mgrant

Whoa! Does anyone know whether Marie-Chantal speaks a little of the language of her husband's family, not to mention his country? I mean, sure they (GRF) probably all speak English better than we do and she is under no obligation to learn Greek.

If I was Marie-Chantal, I would have had Greek lessons before my wedding day and would have floored my future in-laws by at least trying to address them in Greek. But that's just me:p

Do any of you really think that the Greek Royal family living in England speak Greek to each other? They can, of course speak Greek. None of them have a drop of Greek blood in them and I am sure they do speak Greek fluently, but at home among themselves, only if they don´t want the servants to understand them..... IMHO.

[kelly9480]

I do believe that Constantine and Anne-Marie speak Greek to one another. I also believe them when they say that they spoke Greek and only Greek to their older children -- who were born during the monarchy. Now that the likelihood of restoration is right up there with the restoration of the Savoys, they have no reason to lie, and Anne-Marie has been honest about her younger two children struggling in Greek when compared to the oldest three.

[Odette]

Originally Posted by Menarue

Do any of you really think that the Greek Royal family living in England speak Greek to each other? They can, of course speak Greek. None of them have a drop of Greek blood in them and I am sure they do speak Greek fluently, but at home among themselves, only if they don´t want the servants to understand them..... IMHO.

I believe they speak Greek among themselves and Alexia Pavlos and Nicholas spoke in flawless Greek on Greek TV. One does not need to have Greek blood to feel Greek.
I doubt that Theodora and Philipos are as fluent. Q Anne Marie learnt Greek when she came to live in Athens following her marriage and K Constantine not only speaks fluent Greek he could also use all questionable words when he was a boy scout and was away at camp and his team was losing.
With regard to MC well.........she only said a few words in Greek when the engagement was announced but I believe that was the end of that. Her studies have been nomadic and sporadic so if she picked up French during her Swiss/French schooling it is possible she speaks fluent French.

[acdc1]

What about when their with their Spanish cousins? I heard somewhere that Queen Sofia spoke Greek with her children, so they speak it, too. I know that at least Alexia and Pavlos are fluent in Spanish, so would they speak Spanish, Greek, or another language, like English or French, when they're together?

[greek101]

I know Theodora speaks Spanish and Greek