Prince & Princess of Asturias Visit to the United States: November 13-19, 2013

carlota · Nov 18, 2013

Duke of Marmalade said:
Queen Sofia clearly holds on to her trips abroad, doesnt she I mean, F&L are in the US right now and Letizia could have picked up the Queen's event in New York but no way. I am pretty sure it was scheduled that way a long time ago, the Kings were supposed to do the trip to California & Florida and the Queen would have flown from Florida to NY to do her event.

Letizia is certainly fluent in English, but from what we have heard she has a very heavy accent a la Rafael Nadal, typical for many Spaniards who have never had to use English or only started very late. Felipe is almost accent free, I am sure he grew up bilingual.

i can definitely hear a spanish accent when felipe speaks - and letizia, unsurprisingly, doesn't have that much of an accent. maybe a bit more than felipe, but not shocking. she surely must have gotten private diction tuition, and maybe she did have a more important accent when she first started learning. but judging from the video i posted, her accent is not bad now. although that was a speech that she could practise at home: maybe her accent shows more when she is talking freely and engaging in conversation.

ANNIE_S · Nov 18, 2013

Seems that F&L received a warm welcome to Miami. Those Viva España and Viva Asturias were great to hear

Duke of Marmalade · Nov 18, 2013

lula said:
The logic in this situation would have been that if the prince and princess are in the U.S. they attend the gala in New York, would only be half a day more in the country. But it seems that the queen did not want to give up her party, although that would involve to spend money on an unnecessary trip.

Exactly. Sofia loves being Queen with all its privileges, she is as conscious as JC in this matter. I believe that even though the relationship with her daughter in law is ok, Sofia sees herself clearly as superior and does as she pleases, takes the best events for her that frequently include travelling abroad (very much unlike Beatrix who often left the field for Maxima). She loves protocol that secures her position. She has been around for too long and endured too much to leave the field for her DIL.

Duke of Marmalade · Nov 18, 2013

carlota said:
i can definitely hear a spanish accent when felipe speaks - and letizia, unsurprisingly, doesn't have that much of an accent. maybe a bit more than felipe, but not shocking. she surely must have gotten private diction tuition, and maybe she did have a more important accent when she first started learning. but judging from the video i posted, her accent is not bad now. although that was a speech that she could practise at home: maybe her accent shows more when she is talking freely and engaging in conversation.

Funny, I dont hear almost no accent with Felipe. I can hear that he is neither navite american or english but I cannot hear a spanish accent. re letizia, I dont think a speech can measure her english pronounciation. its not too difficult to do a speech as you can learn the text and practice it ad nauseam. Still, I hear a strong accent in her speeches. its very difficult to learn a language as an adult in terms of pronounciation, I dont think Letizia was fluent in English at school already.

An Ard Ri · Nov 18, 2013

From Hola

La princesa Letizia conquista Miami vestida una vez más de Felipe Varela | Realeza | Noticias hola.com

Frelinghighness · Nov 18, 2013

I hear a nice "international" accent from Felipe, neither American, nor British. I imagine he learned his english from both. I hear absolutely no spanish accent at all, as an American, I hear certain words prounouned in the british way.
Letizia has a very thick spanish accent, imo, and I am a bit surprised with hers. She may be able to read and write english, but obviously hasn't had to speak it much.