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Author Topic: Languages spoken by the Royals  (Read 22544 times)
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castille

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« Reply #15 on: April 13, 2013, 11:47:15 PM »

For example, I know (there is a youtube video about it) that P. Maxima talks in Dutch, Spanish and English to the Triple A girls. Made me curious about other multilingual families.

the Luxembourg's speak their mother's native Spanish (each to a different extent) along with the required three (Luxembourgish, German and French) and some of them even speak a small amount of Italian
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Principessa

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« Reply #16 on: April 15, 2013, 02:11:20 PM »

If I am correct during a photomoment with Waxmax and their daughters in Argentinia last year, they were asked if the girls could speak Spanish. Instead of receiving the answer from the parents, the girls apparently reacted in Spanish with something like "Yes, we do!"
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Principessa

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« Reply #17 on: April 15, 2013, 02:13:28 PM »

Philippe of Belgium is supposed to speak French and Dutch as they are the official languages of Belgium. German is also an official language if I am correct, but I don't know if Philippe speaks German.

I often heard the remark that the Dutch and especially the Dutch pronounciation of the Belgian royals is not well.
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Principessa

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« Reply #18 on: April 15, 2013, 02:20:25 PM »

I always assumed Willem-Alexander and his brothers were brought up in at least Dutch and German. This because of their Dutch mother (with German heritage) and their German father.

But I think Willem-Alexander will especially pass on Dutch to his daughters.

Friso and his family live in London and I guess his daughters also speak English.

Constantijn and his family live in Brussels, Belgium. If remember it well it was once said that his children also speak some French. This was especially said about Eloļse, his eldest child and daughter.
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bitterblueheart1

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« Reply #19 on: April 15, 2013, 03:14:41 PM »

I always assumed Willem-Alexander and his brothers were brought up in at least Dutch and German. This because of their Dutch mother (with German heritage) and their German father.

But I think Willem-Alexander will especially pass on Dutch to his daughters.

Friso and his family live in London and I guess his daughters also speak English.

Constantijn and his family live in Brussels, Belgium. If remember it well it was once said that his children also speak some French. This was especially said about Eloļse, his eldest child and daughter.

Amalia, Alexia and Ariane speak Dutch, through father (of course) but Maxima always spoke to them in both Dutch (mainly) and Spanish (secondly).
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fairy

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« Reply #20 on: April 16, 2013, 11:04:56 AM »

MOst dutch can speak german to some extent, however Wimlex doesn't speak it one iota better than any other dutch, which considering his father and mother is odd.
The DoE spend some time at a school in Germany and likely some of his vacations, however I don't think german came quite as natural as people (a tad germanophob) believe.
Sophia's mother was german too I think, and she can speak some german, but not to the extent that she could hold an entire conversation. However her english is absolutely perfect.
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« Reply #21 on: April 19, 2013, 03:30:07 PM »

MOst dutch can speak german to some extent, however Wimlex doesn't speak it one iota better than any other dutch, which considering his father and mother is odd.
The DoE spend some time at a school in Germany and likely some of his vacations, however I don't think german came quite as natural as people (a tad germanophob) believe.
Sophia's mother was german too I think, and she can speak some german, but not to the extent that she could hold an entire conversation. However her english is absolutely perfect.

Indeed I would expect WimLex to have a better understanding and control of the German language than other Dutch people (without German familymembers).

German and Dutch have their similarities, but switching between the languages etc. can still be difficult. In the past I used to have several jobs were I would meet a lot of German people and even work together with them. They were able to understand or follow a lot of Dutch conversation, but often the missed the specific details and did it go to fast for them. And to be honest, for me the same. In my opinion my knowledge and control of German is moderate, but a lot of younger Dutch people think my German is good (when they hear me).
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Clara
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« Reply #22 on: April 19, 2013, 04:31:23 PM »

MOst dutch can speak german to some extent, however Wimlex doesn't speak it one iota better than any other dutch, which considering his father and mother is odd.
The DoE spend some time at a school in Germany and likely some of his vacations, however I don't think german came quite as natural as people (a tad germanophob) believe.
Sophia's mother was german too I think, and she can speak some german, but not to the extent that she could hold an entire conversation. However her english is absolutely perfect.

Yes, her mother was a Hanoverian princess and she sent Sofķa to school in Germany, so there was a time when she must have spoken it well.

Christina speaks Spanish, Catalan, English, French and Greek fluently

I doubt that she speaks Greek fluently. Kbart already said it (it was Cristina, not Elena), but Cristina spent a semester in London living with Alexia and learning Greek.

For example, I know (there is a youtube video about it) that P. Maxima talks in Dutch, Spanish and English to the Triple A girls. Made me curious about other multilingual families.

the Luxembourg's speak their mother's native Spanish (each to a different extent)

I think the Grand Ducal Court website only mentions Spanish as a language spoken by the eldest two. I know that Guillaume even did an intership in Madrid.

We already have a thread about this, so bitterbluehart would you mind asking Maria to merge them?  Smiley
The previous thread is here: http://royaldish.com/index.php?topic=11780.0
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bitterblueheart1

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« Reply #23 on: April 20, 2013, 01:49:19 PM »

Will ask for it straight away.
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Future Crayon

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« Reply #24 on: April 20, 2013, 02:07:09 PM »

Princess Diana speaking a few words in Welsh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2sjrbK3J3k
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bitterblueheart1

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« Reply #25 on: April 20, 2013, 02:12:55 PM »

Princess Diana speaking a few words in Welsh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2sjrbK3J3k

She was so young (and already pregnant!) yet exhuded confidence, even amidst a slight nervousism. If this was her first speech, then kudos!
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CyrilSebastian

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« Reply #26 on: December 22, 2014, 07:50:23 PM »

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Great Britain speak French.       
Princess Caroline of Monaco speaks German, Italian, and French.
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fairy

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« Reply #27 on: December 22, 2014, 08:05:56 PM »

QEII does speak a bit of german. Apparently they visited Philipp's relatives in Germany quite often and very much incognito. There is a video out there of QEII in Germany, where she speaks a few words (which however means nothing as that could have been rehearsed) and listens to the mayor speaking (again no indication on its own - QEII is a pro, she would have the very same face of perfect understanding when the speech was held in Parseltongue) and in one instance he said something or muddled something up and she almost grinned before she caught herself again. That IMO is indicative of really having understood him. Considering that it is quite a difference to understand a speech addressed at you and understanding something muddled and mumbled, I would assume, her level of comprehension is rather good.
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bumbershoot

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« Reply #28 on: December 22, 2014, 11:32:02 PM »

I know the members of the Japanese royal family all have studied English and are presumably reasonably competent. But I wonder what else they have in the way of language skills? Specifically, I wonder if any of them has any competence in Chinese or Korean.
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CyrilSebastian

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« Reply #29 on: April 12, 2020, 02:15:07 AM »

Prince Charles was the first English Prince of Wales in seven and a half centuries to have taken the time to learn a bit of Welsh.
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