What Languages Do The Royals Speak?

[Duke of Marmalade]

Victoria's German was very good when speaking at the Bundestag. I am sure she has a very strong basis in German, but as a native speaker you can hear as well that her speech must have been heavily rehearsed. She practised it a lot, knows it almost by heart.

Are there any videos of Victoria speaking German in an acutual informal conversation? I would be curious how good her German is in such cases.

I've said it before in this thread, even though Silvia is German, when she speak German these days she sounds very weird.

 

[Mimi1984]

Like most children in Sweden who have at least one parent that has a foreign language as their mother tongue the three siblings reportedly had weekly German classes in school.

I read in an Interview from Her Majesty , that the children learned German with a Kasperltheater/ puppet play for children.

Cu

Andrea

 

[Moonmaiden23]

I wouldn't know enough about what more-standard Dutch sounds like to say how Mathilde varies, but I can hear her French accent, regardless. She just has a particularly pleasant way of speaking, I think; it's almost a bit soothing. That's what I mean by 'easy'.

I think it does carry over regardless of what she's speaking.

I agree 100% about Mathilde's voice. Every time she speaks-in any language-it's almost like listening to a lullaby!

I love listening to her.?

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Eleanor of Provence, Queen Consort of King Henry III of England, spoke Occitan, French and Norman French of King Henry III's court.

 

[valeas]

Victoria's German was very good when speaking at the Bundestag. I am sure she has a very strong basis in German, but as a native speaker you can hear as well that her speech must have been heavily rehearsed. She practised it a lot, knows it almost by heart.

Are there any videos of Victoria speaking German in an acutual informal conversation? I would be curious how good her German is in such cases.

I've said it before in this thread, even though Silvia is German, when she speak German these days she sounds very weird.

What do you mean with "weird", Silvia speaks slowly like many Royals do, but her I wouldn't say her mothertongue sounds "weird", her Swedish though is still with a German accent after so many years. Victoria speaks German fluently and spontanously.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

For me as a German is sounds strange in a sense that you can hear Silvia does not speak German very often, the choice of words and the ways she says them. When answering obviously rehearsed questions its much better.

 

[tdarlene]

Do the royals speak Portuguese (Brazil), along with Queen Silvia?

At Infanta D. Francisca of Brangança wedding i was suprised to see some royal speaking portguese, some of the french, descendents from D. Isabel, countess of Paris and surprisingly Princess Gloria Von Thurn und Taxis.

 

[cdm]

Princess Elisabeth switching from Dutch to French and back meeting the Belgian press at her graduation in Oxford.
https://www.hln.be/video/productie/PRINSESOXF-575676

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia spoke Russia, French, English, German, and Dutch. He preferred to speak Russian. He spoke and wrote in English to his wife Alexandra.

 

[Somebody]

Why did he speak Dutch?

 

[CyrilVladisla]

I am wondering if Dutch was a mistake. Should Danish have not been a language Nicholas would have learned? After all, his mother was originally a princess of Denmark.

 

[Somebody]

About Mary's level of French:

Say so her third language is up to some debate at the moment. But some heirs and/or present/future consorts only speak one language, so I don't think Mary should be worried.

As far as I am aware, all heirs and consorts speak at least English next to their country's native tongue (and often a third or even fourth language to a certain extent) - so, in Europe, that would leave only the British RF whose language skills seem limited to being fluent in one language and either at a basic or at most intermediate level at another.

 

[Somebody]

Trying to create an overview - please feel free to share corrections or additions.

The Netherlands:
Willem-Alexander: Dutch, English, German, Spanish, French
Máxima: Spanish, English, Dutch, French, (some) German
Amalia: Dutch, Spanish, English, German, (some) Mandarin (and probably also some French)

Belgium:
Philippe: French, Dutch, English, Italian, Spanish, (some) German,
Mathilde: French, English, Dutch, Spanish, Italian
Elisabeth: French, Dutch, English

Luxembourg:
Henri: French, Luxembourgish, German, English
Maria Teresa: Spanish, English, French, Luxembourgish
Guillaume: Luxembourgish, French, German, English, Spanish
Stephanie: French, English, Russian, Luxembourgish, German, (some) Dutch

Denmark:
Frederik: Danish, French, English, German
Mary: English, Danish, (some) French
Christian: Danish, English

Norway:
Harald: Norwegian, English
Sonja: Norwegian, English, French
Haakon: Norwegian, English, German
Mette-Marit: Norwegian, English

Sweden:
Carl-Gustaf: Swedish, English
Silvia: German, Portuguese, English, Spanish, Swedish, French
Victoria: Swedish, English, German, French
Daniel: Swedish, English, French, German (at least he got tutoring sessions in those languages)

Spain:
Felipe: Spanish, English, Catalan, French
Letizia: Spanish, English
Leonor: Spanish, English, (some) Mandarin

United Kingdom:
Charles: English, French, German, Welsh (basic)
Camilla: English, French
William: English, French (basic), Welsh (basic)
Catherine: English

Monaco:
Albert: French, English, German
Charlene: Afrikaans, English, (some) French
Jacques: French, English

Liechtenstein:
Hans-Adam: German, English, French
Alois: German, English, French (?)
Sophie: German, English, French (?)

 

[maria-olivia]

President Maxcron and King Frederik spoke french at the Invalides.

 

[carlota]

Trying to create an overview - please feel free to share corrections or additions.

The Netherlands:
Willem-Alexander: Dutch, English, German, Spanish
Máxima: Spanish, English, Dutch, French
Amalia: Dutch, Spanish, English, German, (some) Mandarin (and probably also some French)

Belgium:
Philippe: French, Dutch, English, German, Italian, Spanish
Mathilde: French, English, Dutch, Spanish
Elisabeth: French, Dutch, English

Luxembourg:
Henri: French, Luxembourgish, German, English
Maria Teresa: Spanish, English, French, Luxembourgish
Guillaume: Luxembourgish, French, German, English, Spanish
Stephanie: French, English, Russian, Luxembourgish, German, (some) Dutch

Denmark:
Frederik: Danish, French, English, German
Mary: English, Danish, (some) French
Christian: Danish, English

Norway:
Harald: Norwegian, English
Sonja: Norwegian, English, French
Haakon: Norwegian, English, German
Mette-Marit: Norwegian, English

Sweden:
Carl-Gustaf: Swedish, English,
Silvia: German, Portuguese, English, Spanish, Swedish, French
Victoria: Swedish, English, German
Daniel: Swedish, English, French, German (at least he got tutoring sessions in those languages)

Spain:
Felipe: Spanish, English, Catalan
Letizia: Spanish, English
Leonor: Spanish, English, (some) Mandarin

United Kingdom:
Charles: English, French, German, Welsh (basic)
Camilla: English, French
William: English, French (basic), Welsh (basic)
Catherine: English

Monaco:
Albert: French, English, German
Charlene: Afrikaans, English, (some) French
Jacques: French, English

Liechtenstein:
Hans-Adam: German, English, French
Alois: German, English, French (?)
Sophie: German, English, French (?)

i believe leonor spoke some catalan in a speech recently, but i don't know if she just knows how to say what she had prepared for the speech, or whether she can speak it conversationally. in any case, her pronounciation when speaking it seemed quite good.

 

[Somebody]

That's indeed quite a difference. Many people can, with some practice, read sentences in a different language, without necessarily being able to speak the language itself. For example, think about the young princess Elisabeth of Belgium reading a few sentences in German during a speech - as I am not aware of any evidence that she truly speaks German, I haven't included it in her list of languages (although I wouldn't be surprised if she speaks it so some degree; in the future she will attend the meetings of the heads of state of German-speaking countries, so it would be helpful if she at least speaks it at an intermediate level at some point).

 

[Prinsara]

Wouldn’t Christian know French as well? Margrethe, Juan Carlos and Sofia all speak a sizable amount of things…

Carl Gustav understands German but can’t speak it.

Ingrid Alexandra knows Norwegian and English.

I think it’s been said on here that Mathilde speaks Italian as well, though I still don’t know if she learned because of Philippe or something else.

 

[blooms_rulers]

I have to hope that Charlene is fluent in French by now. I pray. She’s had a decade.

 

[maria-olivia]

No belgian Royals speeks german fluently. The day King Baudouin passed away it was written : "ce soir je dois apprendre l' Allemand"

 

[EvaH]

Catarina Amalia said in an interview that when she was little her parents spoke in French together so she & her siblings wouldn't understand therefore it seems W-A speaks French too or at an intermediate level to be able to communicate with Maxima.

And Maxima spoke German in I don't know which walkabout in Germany or with whichever royal family.

Victoria speaks French as as well. 100%

Felipe speaks French and very very well!

 

[doro]

No belgian Royals speeks german fluently. The day King Baudouin passed away it was written : "ce soir je dois apprendre l' Allemand"

It seems strange, because German is one of the official languages, along French and Dutch

 

[Somebody]

It seems strange, because German is one of the official languages, along French and Dutch

Apparently, the distribution is:
59% Dutch
40% French
1% German

So, I understand why preference is given to Dutch and French.

Other royals, also don't always speak all official languages: for example, the Dutch royals don't speak Frisian nor Papiamentu. And of course, none of the British royals speak all the official languages of all the realms.

 

[Meraude]

A comparison of King Frederik speaking with a Swedish journalist in Sweden:

Giving a New Year's Speech in Danish TV:

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Queen Marie of Yugoslavia spoke English in a televised interview

 

[Blog Real]

In the Belgian royal family, which language do they speak most often? French, Dutch, or German? And which language do they speak amongst themselves?

 

[EllieCat]

Don't know how far they got, but I remember Edward and Sophie taking French lessons soon after they got married.

 

[Izzie]

As I think most people know that King Frederik speaks 4 languages....Danish, English, French and German.

I do wonder if agter all this time Queen Mary has picked up at least some conversational French.

 

[Somebody]

In the Belgian royal family, which language do they speak most often? French, Dutch, or German? And which language do they speak amongst themselves?

Up until Philippe's generation, most definitely French. Philippe and Mathilde made sure that their children got their initial education in Dutch (as French was spoken at home), so while I assume they still speak French as a family, it has been suggested that the children often speak Dutch among themselves.

 

[eejm]

During a visit to the Faroe Islands in the 1960s Margarethe was observed speaking Faroese. I don’t know how fluent she is in it.

 

[JR76]

During a visit to the Faroe Islands in the 1960s Margarethe was observed speaking Faroese. I don’t know how fluent she is in it.

According to this reply from 2023, Queen Margrethe knows enough Faroese to be able to understand what's being said in a conversation and hold a short speech.

Det var vigtigt for kong Frederik og dronning Ingrid: Så mange sprog taler dronning Margrethe

Hvor mange sprog taler dronning Margrethe? Venlig hilsen Anni H.

www.billedbladet.dk