Languages of the Royal Family

[BELTRANEJA]

The accent is very hard to remove, because the accent is always recognized by others, but it is not recognized by person that has it. Princess Theodora, I have never heard speak Greek, but she knows, her mother Queen Anne-Marie said in an interview to a Danish newspaper in 2006, which Theodora had had difficulty learning to speak Greek when was small but with much effort she learned it.

Haha!!! you see very well .Yes , this is true, the former minister of New Democracy is Savvas Tsitouridis, but it was not ready, the Kings came to the restaurant and he he left it, they agreed. He was to greet the royal family, but nothing more.

Thank you!! Nikolopoulus, I had read it that he had been Minister, I thought that was a coincidence

 

[Lia]

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

By fluently i mean that she uses difficult words and she has a rich vocabulary (i have heard other interviews thats how i noticed)

I have another question, does the Royal Family use greek in every day life to communicate or they mainly use english (even between them?)

 

[Nikolopoulus]

Queen Anna Maria speaks good in Greek, she has an accent, but she speaks it well, her few errors are forgivable, she speaks it fluently.

 

[BELTRANEJA]

I read an interview years ago that asked this to the Kings of Greece, if they spoke in Greek in their daily lives or in English and the language they used with their children and family? They said that they spoke in family the greek, The Queen Anne-Marie said what for Filippos was easy because he had many Greek friends at school, but with Theodora was more difficult because she did not studied under Greek friends, she attended an English school from eleven years. She had less greeks friends. They emphasized in Theodora because they knew that to she had been more difficult learn it than rest of the family . They appreciated the efforts of their daughter

 

[jonc93]

Thanks everyone for the reply, nice to know they all speak Greek or at least try. A-M did have 3 years engagement period, which I'm sure she learned Greek.

 

[stef]

I know the kings and their children speak Greek,. When they came to Porto Heli for the baptize of Anne marie(Alexia´s daughter), I remember how the people spoke to Princess Theodora, they said compliments her, and she smiled and thanked in Greek, then in 2007,she visited with their parents affected areas by fires and she spoke greek with the people of the villages visited.

 

[roimat]

The younger children, princes Phillipos and Theodora understand Greek but they don't speak it so well. Queen Anna Maria speaks better Greek when she talks to common people, but you must take in mind that on camera, everyone speaks with difficulty a language that isn't native;-). We have the very clear example of Jeffrey Papandreou, the prime minister, who speaks better American than Greek;-)

 

[stef]

It is true, television cameras cause nervousness, Prince Paul in i baptism in Hermioni, in 2009, he spoke very slow, he was nervous by microphones, It conditioned his Greek It is logical. The Prime Minister of Greece speak better American than Greek,he was born in Minnesota

 

[la_noblesse]

Anne-Marie speaks Greek relatively well, if not fluently. Let us leave it at that. @roimat The comparison and the sarcastic remark were rather unfortunate. We must be fair, the Prime Minister speaks 5 languages fluently and not just two. We must not underestimate his Swedish, for example. English is his mother tongue literally and therefore he speaks it a tad better than Greek. It makes sense. Does that make George Papandreou a person inferior and inequable, in your view?

 

[roimat]

He is inequable anyway, but not speaking good the language of the country you rule, it's not sarcastic remark, but the truth.
As for Anna Maria, she also speaks Spanish and English. And even thought she lived only 3 years in Greece, she speaks better than Jeffrey-that's his real name;-)

 

[Nikolopoulus]

The Queen anne marie speaks four languages, danish, french, english , and greek, and she know the german. Greek Prime Minister speaks 4 languages, but in the web in English, adding a 5, Spanish.

 

[Maura724]

Like roimat, I had the impression she spoke Spanish as well - so 5 languages then?

Are any of the Greek royals at all familiar with Italian, since the family lived in Rome for 6 years (1968-1974)?

 

[Vlaha Karatsokaros]

It is true that the Greek prime minister's English, his mother tongue, is pedestrian and consists of 500 words while his Greek is beyond description, but how do all these relate to the post and the royal forums altogether?

 

[BELTRANEJA]

I do not know if they speak Italian, but one of the best friends of Prince Nikolas of Greece, is Italian, he spoke about the Prince Nikolaos and Tatiana in Vanity Fair in Spain. I think Princess alexia, and princes Pavlo and Nikolaos speak Italian and spanish.

 

[Rhys82192]

Queen Sofia is fluent in Greek, Spanish and French.

 

[Petite Julie]

Well they can!!I heard them speaking!

Hey, can you say where you heard them speak Greak? Was it a video or something? I would love to hear them speak, but I can't find anything anywhere

 

[Grandduchess24]

So they speak English ,Greek,French and Spanish maybe some Danish ?

 

[IRIS1983]

I read an interview with Prince Paul in 1998, ( it was a Danish agency )and he said that didn´t spoke fluent Danish, but he understood it..... In short, he did not spoke Danish but it was one familiar language to him ( he knew to say the essencial of language "what is your name?How are you?....)

 

[Viv]

In a recent interview in Danish magazine Billed Bladet ex-queen Anne-Marie was asked about her proficiency in Greek. She told that her Greek had improved a lot since moving back to Greece, 'it's almost fluent, I suppose'. She also added that she and her husband communicate in English as well as Greek.

As for their children: They all speak Greek but not equally well. As she put it, 'Some are better (at Greek) than others'. She also informed that none of the children spoke Danish. She said:' Maybe they would have learned Danish if we had remained in Greece, but living abroad, learning Greek became a priority.


viv