Languages of the Royal Family

[Lumutqueen]

There are serbian,montenegro,albania,romanian,russian,iranian Princes in exile or not but they all speak their languages and try to teach to their wifes and children.Prince Pavlos is an exception?

Do they live in there own countries?
Were they born there?
Apparently the whole greek family is an exception to your rule.

 

[Cory]

The Albanian Crown Prince is born in exile , the Serbian Princes are born in exile, Crown Princess of Romania was born in exile...but they speak their languages.

 

[Lumutqueen]

The Albanian Crown Prince is born in exile , the Serbian Princes are born in exile, Crown Princess of Romania was born in exile...but they speak their languages.

Well they are the obvious exception to your rule.
But i stand by my opinion.
However this is the thread about there engagement.

 

[ClaudiaE]

There are serbian,montenegro,albania,romanian,russian,iranian Princes in exile or not but they all speak their languages and try to teach to their wifes and children.Prince Pavlos is an exception?

No, they not.
Not all of the Princes know the language of their ancestors country.
Unfortunately (history fault) most of them were born and raised in other countries and other cultures. After 1989 (the fall of comunism) they tried to come back and recover). Ones of them better then others.
About Greek Royal Family : I heard (read) that even Princess marie Chantal doesn't know greek language or the children. They stay two weeks per year in Greece so I don't think it's easy.
I doubt Tatiana will learn greek language (maybe some words) but if Nikolaos wants maybe his children will speak their father language.

 

[H.M. Margrethe]

No, they not.
Not all of the Princes know the language of their ancestors country.
Unfortunately (history fault) most of them were born and raised in other countries and other cultures. After 1989 (the fall of comunism) they tried to come back and recover). Ones of them better then others.
About Greek Royal Family : I heard (read) that even Princess marie Chantal doesn't know greek language or the children. They stay two weeks per year in Greece so I don't think it's easy.
I doubt Tatiana will learn greek language (maybe some words) but if Nikolaos wants maybe his children will speak their father language.

Hmm thats odd..are the children of CP Pavlos and CP Marie-Chantal not going in the greek school in London ?
If they are they must be learning som Greek words..

 

[Lumutqueen]

I think the children go to an english school in London.

 

[Saschana]

Marie-Chantal either, did not learn greek.

She does/did learn Greek. Marie-Chantal once said in an interview that she is learning Greek but that it is an up and down and she does not always find the time, but picks it up again later, because of the kids, who btw are raised bilingual. Pavlos usually talks in Greek with them.

 

[Kastalia]

^ I fully agree.For some reason i like all of the people that Constantine's children are married to :Marie Chantal,Carlos Morales and now i like her as well.

 

[Nikolopoulus]

I'd like that they would learn Greek, because I think that if they do not know greek, hardly their children will learn Greek in future.

 

[GRspecialforces]

we mustn't forget that nicolas himself is still making many mistakes and misuses a lot of words. there's problem with his vocabulary mainly. i remember him at the interview the day of their engagement, when he used the word empathy instead of sympathy...these are huge mistakes, so my thought is that tatiana or their children in the future will face difficulties learning fluent greek near their father. i don't want to be unfair or disrespectful here. i know he rarely gets the chance to speak greek in london. it's logical.

gregory

 

[fandesacs2003]

She does/did learn Greek. Marie-Chantal once said in an interview that she is learning Greek but that it is an up and down and she does not always find the time, but picks it up again later, because of the kids, who btw are raised bilingual. Pavlos usually talks in Greek with them.

She has never pronounced in public a single word of greek, and she is 14 years married!! I do not think that she ever learned greek, she just said it.
For Pavlos talking in greek to their children, you might me right.

 

[Nikolopoulus]

I do not think Marie chantal know Greek and the children either, they do not attend to Greek school of london, it is obvious, if they had attended to the school had not transformed it in a english school ...

 

[Lumutqueen]

They don't have to attend a Greek school to learn greek do you?
It is possible that the children know Greek.

 

[roimat]

I'm afraid that in that matter, Pavlos isn't acting well. It's horrible that Marie Chandal don't know a single word in Greek, after 15 years of marriage. I'm afraid that not even their children know Greek...The young generation is very different than the old one...;-)

 

[fandesacs2003]

Marie-Chantal knows that she will never be the Queen of Greece, consequently she does not care about spending time and energy to learn greek. I do not see Pavlos obliging her to do it, if she does not want it. Pavlos can only act towards his kids regarding this matter and I do not know what he is doing about.
For Marie Chantal is enough taht she has a royal title, she wearts tiaras and ballgowns and she goes to royal events!
I can not explain why, but I have a strange feeling that Tatiana could do better than Marie-Chantal at this stage, I would not be surpised if Tatiana learned Greek!!
At the end of the story, if you are rich it is not sooo difficult to hire a professor!! if you REALLY are interested to!!!

 

[roimat]

Tatiana would do better because Nikolaos does better job in that! I don't think she is not learning Greek has to do with that she will never be Queen. She is a "princess", wife of the man supposed to be the next King. It's just a matter of felling...if you feel you wanna learn, you will learn in 2 years, as Queen Anna Maria did. Even Infanda Elena of Spain learned Greek, because of her mother!

 

[fandesacs2003]

Tatiana would do better because Nikolaos does better job in that! !

Agree!!! Nikolaos look "more Greek" than Pavlos !

s Queen Anna Maria did. Even Infanda Elena of Spain learned Greek, because of her mother!

Yes because they WANTED to do it. But Marie-Chantal does not care about. When she is in Greece she looks "out of her element".

 

[Charlotte1]

Marie-Chantal has been holidaying each year in Greece since she was a child. Her family would holiday there, I think she's very much in 'her element'. Growing up she spent more time in Greece than her future husband. She said she found it strange to be stopped from going to Greece once she married Pavlos, though with the issue of compensation with the Greek government settled in 2002, she can go back there. People who have seen Marie-Chantal in Greece have pointed out that she actually understands quite a lot of Greek, she just doesn't speak much. So to say that she doesn't speak a word of Greek is very, very wrong.

 

[fandesacs2003]

Holidaying is different than living. I have never heard that she was holidaying in Greece before meeting Pavlos, but it could be true. But if is true, it is even worst that she does not speak!!! She might understand but she does not speak! She has always said that it is difficult, but it is not so difficult, especially for a child!!! Where as she holidaying? Into a desert island???

 

[Saschana]

Well... The difference about understanding a language and actually speaking that language is quite big, at least that is what I experienced. My dad is orginally from Portugal but my mum is German, she doesn't understand a lot of Portuguese (she never learned the language) so my dad just talked to us in Portuguese when we were on our own without my mum. Usually we used to answer him in German, for some reason he never asked us to answer in the language he was talking to us. So today, when I go on holiday to Portugal I understand almost everything they are saying but I simply can't really answer
So it is very much possible that Marie-Chantal is understanding Greek but she can't answer how she wants to and so answers in English

Btw, does someone knows which language Constantine and Anne Marie are using to talk to each other and especially when talking with their children?

 

[Vlaha Karatsokaros]

we mustn't forget that nicolas himself is still making many mistakes and misuses a lot of words...

We need to be fair here. He speaks Greek very well and without any accent whatsoever. The type of gross mistake you are referring too is common place in post-Andreas Papandreou Greece. All people aged 40 and younger are functionally illiterate when it comes to the language and much more. And we shouldn't forget the pathetic, hopeless and helpless illiteracy of prime minister of Greece Mr George Papandreou.

 

[fandesacs2003]

FULLY FULLY FYLLY right! (after 30 years in Greece.... zero result)

Nikolaos is a person born out of Greece and raised out of Greece, in a double lingual family. Only one of his parents is Greek! He came for the first time in Greece at the age of 24!! He learned Greek really as a foreign language, and for sentimental reasons!
He should be congratulated for this, not criticised!

 

[mariazil]

I agree with Vlaha, Nikolaos speaks Greek very well, especially for someone who spends most of his time away abroad!

 

[Vlaha Karatsokaros]

They don't have to attend a Greek school to learn greek do you?
It is possible that the children know Greek.

Actually, nothing is impossible, but it very difficult to learn Greek properly unless one goes to a Greek school and/or lives in a community where Greek is the main spoken language. As proof to this stands the fact that the children of Greeks based in the Queens, New York and Chicago areas, where there is a significant Greek contingency, speak fluent Greek, but not elsewhere in the country, even when both parents were born and raised in Greece. The same is true about the children of Greeks in Canada and Australia. All Greek kids in Melbourne and Toronto, numbering 700,000 and 400,000 Greeks respectively, are fluent in Greek.

 

[Carminha Stalker]

I was so thrilled to see the videos of Prince Nikolaos wedding and hear the Greek language spoken by various members of the Royal Family. My own language is Portuguese, but listening to Greek I could recognize some words that sounded similar to my language.
Greece is one of my favourite countries in the world and its Royal Family are very dear to my heart.
When I was studying, the languages one had to learn at school were: Portuguese, of course, French, English, Latin or Greek.I myself speak, French (since 4 years old,)English, Spanish and a little bit of Italian.
Nowadays, Spanish is thought in most schools, besides English.

 

[fandesacs2003]

On the other side, Konstantin's children never lived im Greece (out of Alexia for her first 3 years) and we are now discussing about their "mistakes". ..... It is not very correct.

 

[SweetRomanza]

Anne-Marie learned to speak Greek while a teen

Well... The difference about understanding a language and actually speaking that language is quite big, at least that is what I experienced. My dad is orginally from Portugal but my mum is German, she doesn't understand a lot of Portuguese (she never learned the language) so my dad just talked to us in Portuguese when we were on our own without my mum. Usually we used to answer him in German, for some reason he never asked us to answer in the language he was talking to us. So today, when I go on holiday to Portugal I understand almost everything they are saying but I simply can't really answer
So it is very much possible that Marie-Chantal is understanding Greek but she can't answer how she wants to and so answers in English

Btw, does someone knows which language Constantine and Anne Marie are using to talk to each other and especially when talking with their children?

Thanks for sharing your story! I completely understand what you lived!

Let's not forget something: Anne-Marie and Constantine fell in love when they were REALLY young. I think Anne-Marie was only 12 when they met and starting "teen dating". And we all know what happens in that kind of young love story: we really want to learn the other person's language. Happened to me when I was really young.

Therefore, Anne-Marie had the occasion to start learning Greek really young and let's not forget the genealogy mix that is historical between the Danish and the Greek Royal Houses

 

[jonc93]

i found a video of costis and family. i was in tears when i saw him cry. knows somebody what has happened here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1rXSDqWxaQ&feature=related

I have seen this video before, and it is really nice and emotional, especially since all the family went through to get Tatoi, then have it taken away again! My question is for someone who speaks Greek, Does the Queen speak well or with a noticeable accent? I always wondered since she only spent three years in Greece that she might have stopped speaking it, but it seems she still does.

 

[Lia]

The Queen speaks fluently but with a slight accent that indicates greek is not her first spoken language.

 

[MPD1]

Hi Jonc , u can tell the Queen still has an accent and is not very comfortable with the language i just noticed a mistake she missed a preposition but preps & articles in Greek are very tricky , Philippos is also just like that , Alexia I think speaks it a bit better and Pavlos, Nikos & Tino r fluent with no weird accent whatsoever. I never heard Dora speak Greek i can't say if she has mastered it.

The Queen speaks fluently but with a slight accent that indicates greek is not her first spoken language.

Fluently?..u mean she speaks it fast & thats y she can't avoid some mistakes.