What Languages Do The Royals Speak?

KikkiB · #1 01-16-2005, 07:30 PM

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

, 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.

GrandDuchess · #2 01-16-2005, 07:39 PM

Queen Silvia - Swedish, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and English
Crown Princess Victoria - Swedish, English, German, French

Mette2 · #3 01-16-2005, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KikkiB

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

, 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. :)

Yennie · #4 01-17-2005, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrandDuchess

Queen Silvia - Swedish, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and English
Crown Princess Victoria - Swedish, English, German, French

Queen Silvia also know sign language.

HMQueenElizabethII · #5 01-17-2005, 10:06 AM

Queen Elizabeth II can speak English and French.

Nichola · #6 01-17-2005, 07:24 PM

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.

Princess Maxima · #7 02-10-2005, 10:41 AM

Maxima speaks english, spanish and dutch
Mary speaks english, french and danish

Amira · #8 02-10-2005, 10:46 AM

As far as i know King Mohamed VI speaks Arabic, French, English and Spanish

liv · #9 02-10-2005, 11:56 AM

I think Astrid and Lorenz´s children all speak French, Dutch, German and the older ones English.

Princess Caroline- English, French, Italian, German

suturegeisha · #10 02-10-2005, 02:32 PM

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa speaks Lëtzebuergesch [the official language of Luxembourg], German, French, Italian, Spanish, and some English.

Grand Duke Henri speaks Lëtzebuergesch, German, French, and English.

Lollies!
-Kara-

sara1981 · #11 02-10-2005, 02:59 PM

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

liv · #12 02-12-2005, 02:58 PM

I think Diana could only speak English.

bigheadshirmp · #13 02-12-2005, 10:36 PM

Princess Alexandra of Denmark speaks Danish, English, French, German, Cantonese, and i think Japanese (cuz she was there about 3 years to study)

gaggleofcrazypeople · #14 02-13-2005, 12:16 AM

English started out as the language of the royals.

Nichola · #15 02-13-2005, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nichola

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.

gaggleofcrazypeople · #16 02-13-2005, 08:20 PM

I assume it wasn't ASL. I wonder if her boys took it up as well.

Sue- · #17 02-14-2005, 01:50 PM

CP Willem-Alexander speaks a very perfect German and in addition I think he also speaks of course English and maybe French.

His Lordship · #18 06-04-2005, 12:45 PM

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.

Piewi · #19 06-04-2005, 01:03 PM

The trio Casiraghi (Andrea, Pierre and Charlotte) talk: french, italian, English and a bit of German

zarzuela · #20 06-04-2005, 02:14 PM

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/...spafamesp.html, Infanta Cristina speaks Spanish, English, French, Greek and Catalan (she lives in Barcelona).