What Languages Do The Royals Speak?

[Lady Marmalade]

All three children of Rainier and Grace speak perfect English. Prince Albert even sounds like an American when he speaks.

Years ago Barbara Walters interviewed Princess Caroline when she had lost her hair due to stress and her English was perfect and she sounded American.

 

[Lyle]

Hey, I have heard before that Inaki is of Basque origin...does anyone know if he can speak the Basque language? And do Cristina and Inaki speak Catalan, too, since they live in Barcelona?

 

[Juanita]

Hey, I have heard before that Inaki is of Basque origin...does anyone know if he can speak the Basque language? And do Cristina and Inaki speak Catalan, too, since they live in Barcelona?

Iñaki and Cristina speak Catalan!

 

[crisiñaki]

And Iñaki speaks Euskera as well (Euskera is the language of the Basque Country)

 

[Kelly]

What is the difference? the Dialect?

 

[crisiñaki]

What is the difference? the Dialect?

Catalan is the language of Catalonia, an autonomic province of Spain that is located at the south over the Mediterranean Sea; while the Basque Country is located up north and it's part french and part spanish (ETA wants a separate Basque nation apart from both Spain and France); the languages are similar but not equal (think of german and dutch), the catalan is more similar to spanish than the Euskera.

Hope this helps

 

[*SofiaM*]

What is the difference? the Dialect?

I found this from a site and I'm hoping it's correct because I can't speak 'Basque' but here goes..

If you know how words look in Castilian Spanish then you can see the difference between it and Euskara straight away-
Euskara: kaixo (hello), eskerrik asko (thank you), bai (yes), ez (no), etxe (house), esnea (milk), bat (one), jatetxea (restaurant)

 

[lilytornado]

I have a question. As a royal you have to be educated and this includes knowing some languages (I know that how many are appropriate will probably depend on the country, for example I got the impression that the british royals tend to speak less languages than their royal fellows), so what is about the royal-by-marriage ones? I know that Letizia improves her English, but when she has done this, is she supposed to study more, like french? The same with the others, though it seems logic, that Maxima and Mary would focus on their Dutch/Danish as it is not their mother tongue first. But when they have done this, will they learn more? I know no one can see in the future, but is it expected from them?
Second, when do the royal children start to learn other languages ?
As they should get a good education, i would suppose, they would studying like english and french etc earlier than teenage age.
Does anyone has background information? Thanks!

 

[GlitteringTiaras]

Mary speaks english, french and danish

I believe this might be incorrect.

Before her marriage to Frederik, Mary said in her documentary that she never learned or spoke, besides her mother tongue English, another language other than Danish.

So to say that she speaks French is incorrect.

 

[Mari_*]

I read on "Herederos de la realeza" (a royalty special edition of "Vanidades"*) that Prince Felipe speaks Spanish, English, French, and a basic Greek.
But besides those I think he also speaks Catalan and Portuguese..


*Vanidades is a magazine..

 

[Prince of Chota]

English started out as the language of the royals.

Europe is actually divided into two camps--loosely along a N/S axis, also Protestant/Catholic, respectively. The language of the Protestant North is English, and the language of the Catholic South is French, in the international royal community. In fact, well into the 16th century, French was still the court language in England.

 

[magnik]

I've watched on Discovery about Versailles that Louis XVI was a polyglot - he know 6 or 7 languages. I don't remeber know which languages but he good known English.

 

[avrilo]

Does anyone know what languages do Carl P. and Madeline speak¿ they said about Victoria in the first page.

 

[ZandraRae]

I don't know if it has been mentioned before, but does anyone know what Harry speaks besides English? I thought I read he spoke some african language...

 

[kelly9480]

Harry took Latin at Eton, no telling how well he speaks it. He almost certainly took French, too. No telling about that, either. William was/is studying Swahili on his own, so no telling how far he got with that.

Diana didn't speak Welsh. Her speeches in Welsh were written for her and she simply went along with the pronunciations. Even I can pronounce Welsh even though I can't understand more than a few words of it. Charles learned Welsh while at Aberstwyth, but it's unlikely he's fluent in it. The rumor of William learning Welsh was dismissed by Buckingham Palace as a lie put forward by Charles' former press guy Mark Bolland.

Prince Philip has been described as speaking "kitchen Greek" by his cousin Alexandra of Greece (Alexander of Serbia's mother). He's not fluent in the language at all. In fact, his grandchildren might have a better grasp on it, since William allegedly took Greek at Eton.

 

[bct88]

I believe that Prince Charles is definetly fluent in Welsh. I'm pretty sure that's a well know fact.

 

[Henri M.]

"Flemish" and Dutch

I've heard or better yet read that some people believe that Maxima doesn't speak very well dutch. That she speaks it with a spanish accent. Well spanish accents diver from wich country you are. Maxima from Argentina and their they speak spanish in a different accent than in Spain. Also they is a difference between duth and flemish.

There is no any difference between 'Flemish' and Dutch except for the accent. The rules are set in a so-called 'Green Book' which are exactly the same for both Belgium and the Netherlands. I can understand Flemish people very well, no problem whatsoever. Of course only if they speak common Dutch language and not the Antwerp or Brussels dialect.

Princess Máxima's Dutch is beyond belief when you take into account that she has never lived in a Dutch-speaking country before and succesfully mastered it in no time.

The Dutch language of Queen Paola, Queen Fabiola (more than 45 years in Belgium) and Princess Mathilde (born and raised in Belgium) is shockingly poor, with the knowledge that the Dutch-speaking Belgians are 2/3 of the population.

 

[Marengo]

I recently heard Queen Fabiola speaking on television and her Flemish was excellent and fluent, not to be distinguished from a born Flamand.
Paola has a peculiar way of speaking, but she has that in both french and dutch. She knows however the correct words and order of these words in sentences. Mathilde´s dutch is fluent to, albeit with a french accent.

 

[Henri M.]

Fluent

I recently heard Queen Fabiola speaking on television and her Flemish was excellent and fluent, not to be distinguished from a born Flamand.
Paola has a peculiar way of speaking, but she has that in both french and dutch. She knows however the correct words and order of these words in sentences. Mathilde´s dutch is fluent to, albeit with a french accent.

My idea of fluent is: being able to speak or write smoothly, easily, or readily.

And I'm sorry to disagree with you on this point: no any Belgian royal except probably Princess Astrid does master the Dutch language 'fluent'. I'm not talking about an accentless pronouncation, but really... even the King's Christmas Adress is a pain for my ears.



Zap with your remote to RTBF (the french-speaking channel) and hear the same King speaking French... a scandalous world of difference.

 

[Eva-Britt]

I disagree the children of princess Astrid and the king are fluent in Dutch as well.

 

[rosana]

P. Caroline speaks english,french, italian, she reads spanish, and a little german. I also read in her biography she was studying greek.

 

[7pm]

It was stated a few pages back that Prince Charles speaks Welsh. He doesn't actually speak much Welsh at all, he spent a few months in Aberystwyth University and is able to read some Welsh. But cannot hold a conversation in the language. None of the British royals can honestly claim to 'speak Welsh' in any real sense.

 

[crisiñaki]

I recently heard Queen Fabiola speaking on television and her Flemish was excellent and fluent, not to be distinguished from a born Flamand.
Paola has a peculiar way of speaking, but she has that in both french and dutch. She knows however the correct words and order of these words in sentences. Mathilde´s dutch is fluent to, albeit with a french accent.

well, that's understandable since her mother tongue is italian

 

[Royalist0007]

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.

Prince Philip is known to have given a speech in one of the most difficult languages to learn - Icelandic,which is the closest living language to Faeroese.

Queen Elizabeth II is known to have given speeches in Canada in both English & standard French as her way of reaching out to the Francophone minorities in Canada.{removed off topic part of post- Lady Jennifer}

Queen Elizabeth II was reported a few years ago to be learning Scots-Gaelic,so that she can address the Scots Parliament in both English & Scots-Gaelic.However,her Scots-Gaelic accent is very distinctive,hence the saying,'The Queen's Scots-Gaelic'.I don't know if she has learned any Manx-Gaelic though.

Aidan.

The King of Ghana speaks: Ga, Chree, French and English

Roshanah,there is no such thing as the King of Ghana.Ghana is a British Commonwealth republic,but it has quite a lot of native monarchies.The most influential is the Asantehene (or King of Ashantiland).

Aidan.

 

[Roshanah]

With all due respect I am Ghanaian approx 3/4 to be exact and as such am more familiar with the workings of my Country than yourself.

Indeed Ghana became a republic during 1957, thereafter obtaining independance from the former British Empire. However, we Ghanaians did not renounce our Monarchy. The republic only refers to the fact that we are an Autonomous nation and govern ourselves without external autonomous influence (irrespective of UN and G8 membership.)

Therafter obtaining independance we adopted a dual system of governance in order to appease Ghanaians and those who accused us of not being 'civilized' enough. Hence We have a Government and Monarchy. Therefore we are governed by a political system but ruled by a Multi-regional/Tribal Monarchial system with The Assantehene as supreme Monarch.

Finally, as I recall my post merely stated the languages that The Assante speaks (The Assante: Ghanaian personal reference to the King.) There was no need to dispute as to whether or not you believe there is a King of Ghana. Then later to attempt to 'educate' a Ghanaian about their country.



Bireampoma China Iman-Roshanah Osei

Roshanah,there is no such thing as the King of Ghana.Ghana is a British Commonwealth republic,but it has quite a lot of native monarchies.The most influential is the Asantehene (or King of Ashantiland).

Aidan.

 

[magnik]

What about the other royal families f.ex. Japanese Imperial Family? What languages they know?

 

[Saturn]

My idea of fluent is: being able to speak or write smoothly, easily, or readily.
And I'm sorry to disagree with you on this point: no any Belgian royal except probably Princess Astrid does master the Dutch language 'fluent'. I'm not talking about an accentless pronouncation, but really... even the King's Christmas Adress is a pain for my ears.

Zap with your remote to RTBF (the french-speaking channel) and hear the same King speaking French... a scandalous world of difference.

It's astonishing that the King of Belgium doesn't speak a perfect Flemish. It's understandable that the Queen consort doesn't speak the language as a native, as she came from another country, but the King was raised in Belgium, so he should speak a perfect Flemish as well as French.

 

[Royalist0007]

Ghana.

With all due respect I am Ghanaian approx 3/4 to be exact and as such am more familiar with the workings of my Country than yourself.

Indeed Ghana became a republic during 1957, thereafter obtaining independance from the former British Empire. However, we Ghanaians did not renounce our Monarchy. The republic only refers to the fact that we are an Autonomous nation and govern ourselves without external autonomous influence (irrespective of UN and G8 membership.)

Therafter obtaining independance we adopted a dual system of governance in order to appease Ghanaians and those who accused us of not being 'civilized' enough. Hence We have a Government and Monarchy. Therefore we are governed by a political system but ruled by a Multi-regional/Tribal Monarchial system with The Assantehene as supreme Monarch.

Finally, as I recall my post merely stated the languages that The Assante speaks (The Assante: Ghanaian personal reference to the King.) There was no need to dispute as to whether or not you believe there is a King of Ghana. Then later to attempt to 'educate' a Ghanaian about their country.



Bireampoma China Iman-Roshanah Osei

Ghana actually became a republic in 1960,not 1957.When Ghana became independent in 1957,it was as a Dominion of the British Commonwealth with the Queen as head of state.Kwame Nkrumah began his rise to power when Ghana was still called the Colony of the Gold Coast.He later called himself 'Osagyefo',which means 'Redeemer' in one of the Ghanaian languages.He offended the native monarchs by trying to claim some of their titles for himself.Perhaps that is one reason why Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966.

Here's an article about Kwame Nkrumah; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Nkrumah .

Aidan.

 

[Next Star]

Prince Albert II of Monaco does not an accent of a person from Monaco I agree with other members that has an American accent. Albert speaks four lanagues English which he speaks very well, French he speaks that very well too being that is the official lanague of Monaco plus he also speaks Italian and Spainsh I have not heard him speak in any of those two lanagues but the other two English and French I have.

 

[Mari_*]

What about King Juan Carlos? Does he speaks italian?
What other languages?