Harry and Meghan court dramas (not Suits)

[ARoseInHarlem]

Starting this thread while I digest the last few posts on the previous thread. I think the H&M saga could be as unsettling for the RF as the Charles & Diana bad publicity in the 1990s, if not worse.

I was an au pair in France. As I became more fluent in French, I began to think in French.

I don't believe Meghan can speak French, but Harry thought that she could. Has anyone else seen the video in Quebec where Harry says "And now my wife will say (something, I can't remember) in French" and Meghan does a big nervous laugh and says "No", then talks for a few minutes about how much Archie loves a painting. In English. Harry looked slightly confused.

They all loved her volunteering at the charity with Harry and speaking Spanish. The founder couldn't praise them enough.
I wouldn't comment on whether she is fluent or not, but I suppose her just speaking it at all, probably would mean to some that she is showing off and not modest enough lol. Speaking any languages is admirable in my opinion.

@KatherineParr4

My guess is they didn’t want the tour and to speak to staff because it was quicker to get to the photo op straight away. They were there for their own PR purposes, not to genuinely understand the way the organisation works.

Interpretation is so interesting - I took it to mean they wanted to get stuck in, to start engaging with everyone as they cooked, rather than have the stilted traditional royal tour.

William and Kate are bilingual I didn't know that. To me, bilingual means you are raised in 2 languages, like my Welsh friend, who was raised in an English and Welsh speaking household so is equally fluent in both. I can see, at a push, they may have tried to raise William & Harry bilingual with a French speaking nanny. It would be more unusual for Kate.

@Cartesiandebt

Are they?! I didn't know that!

Most well educated people speak at least one other language.

Not necessarily. Globally perhaps, but it's possible in the UK to have an excellent education without speaking another language with any degree of fluency. I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it is factual.

I wouldn't comment on whether she is fluent or not, but I suppose her just speaking it at all, probably would mean to some that she is showing off and not modest enough lol.

I don't know why you persist in saying things like this Roussette. It's very goady. Some people may think this, but nobody has said so on this thread.

The discussion has been about fluency in languages, who is and who isn't, not whether she should or shouldn't have spoken in Spanish. Personally I think it was a nice touch, I think most people might feel the same but I don't know.

To me, bilingual means you are raised in 2 languages, like my Welsh friend

Yes, while the line is fuzzy, bilingual has this kind of association to me. Otherwise, you are just fluent. But you could work in a bilingual office, for instance.

@MangoFeverDream

To me, bilingual means you are raised in 2 languages, like my Welsh friend

Yes, while the line is fuzzy, bilingual has this kind of association to me. Otherwise, you are just fluent. But you could work in a bilingual office, for instance.

That would be my interpretation too. I'd go further. Fluency is when you can communicate in another language as well as in your first. Otherwise you are just very good.

I don't know why you persist in saying things like this
Maybe because of the loaded suggestions on here like Kate is modest whilst talking about Meghan's Spanish. I will, however, watch what I say. Point taken. Although do think my comment was a one off....

There is a big difference between being bilingual and fluent. I agree that you have to have been brought up in a household with two languages to be bilingual. It's a gift in a way. Learning when you are too small to appreciate that you are actually learning.

Harry and Meghan are both definitely fluent in salad 🥗

@Roussette

I don't know why you persist in saying things like this Maybe because of the loaded suggestions on here like Kate is modest whilst talking about Meghan's Spanish. I will, however, watch what I say. Point taken. Although do think my comment was a one off....

There is a big difference between being bilingual and fluent. I agree that you have to have been brought up in a household with two languages to be bilingual. It's a gift in a way. Learning when you are too small to appreciate that you are actually learning.

Fair enough, maybe it's me having an off day

Moving the discussion wider, I think proficiency in foreign languages is pretty much a must have for a monarch, and it's something to which W and C could give attention. Spanish is an easy language to pick up, French less so. Any language can be learnt if you are able to immerse yourself in it.

In this article it states that Kate learnt about the renaissance/art and had some language lessons in the evening during the 3 months:
www.google.com/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/1213687/kate-middleton-duchess-cambridge-foreign-language-languages-prince-william/amp

In the article you linked to it says:
She admitted she remembers none of the Italian language during her time there.

Yes, and bear in mind that W&C could have the very best of personal tutors etc.
Whereas mere mortals like me make do with DuoLingo

Love DuoLingo!😁

She admitted she remembers none of the Italian language during her time there.

Maybe having Edo in the family will turn out to be an asset after all.

She would almost certainly have had to pass a french / Italian / Dutch exam as part of a history of art degree, language dependent on which art she focussed on.

Languages are quite hard for the average Brit or American.

My mother is Austrian and Italian - so I grew up speaking German and Italian (and they were my main languages before nursery). I've rarely had to speak either language as an adult, I'd find it difficult to recall for beyond a shortish conversation. Although they are fine to understand or read in.

These one-off visits are obviously a great PR opportunity for both sides, charity and H&M, but it's short lived. So what next?

Probably the same as for the rest of the RF - everyone else gets on with the work and the royals grab an unreasonable share of the credit

it doesn't sit well with me for someone to make grandiose and unsubstantiated claims about her abilities

I agree, but once again it's no different to the rest of this ghastly family

Diana stutters a few words of Welsh on her first visit and grown men cry in the streets
The Queen speaks a bit of Gaelic in Ireland and is immediately said to have "healed the wounds"
Charles witters on about - well, just about anything really - and is instantly deemed an intellectual

And so on and so on ...

Thisenglishlife it’s so hard to maintain the knowledge of a language if you don’t speak it regularly enough. I do think it’s a confidence thing as well and it becomes a vicious circle. The less you speak, the less comfortable you feel and then it makes you speak even less.
For anyone born in the Royal Family I do think they should all be fluent or at least very good in at least one additional language to English. For the ones not born in the family, they should learn one as soon as they know they are going to be working Royals. It’s a disappointment that this isn’t the case with William, Kate and Harry. I don’t know about the others’ language situation.

Burned into my memory is Prince Charles speaking pidgin English.

You can pay for a lovely time in Italy to study a bit of art and do a bit of language study at the same time. They are starter courses. My DD did Italian at university and when you do the semester there at a university you can opt to study history of art and culture. Which is what she did. That was after Italian gcse, A level and 2 years into a 4 year degree program. That’s what you need to be fluent. Three months having fun on a gap yah isn’t being fluent but at least she gave it a go. More for her degree in Art History though. It would have been decent prep for that. Also means she’s interested in the Royal Art collections.

Italian is a lovely language but possibly not one that Royals need. They would be better off with Spanish and Mandarin.

It's a shame that in the twenty first century we Brits are still waiting for the world to come to us linguistically.

@Myimaginarycathadfleas

Burned into my memory is Prince Charles speaking pidgin English.

Do you mean when he spoke Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea? That is an official language of the country.

And the car crash continues...

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8494185/Prince-Harry-Meghan-Markle-join-video-call-discuss-justice-equal-rights.html

I suggest Harry & Meghan lead by example and donates the multi-million pound annual grant they receive from Prince Charles to worthy causes in the Commonwealth. Or shuts up. Either would be fine by me.

Still waiting for Meghan, who continues in her role as patron of the National Theatre, to speak out about the global crisis in the arts and cultural industries, or perhaps send one of her nicely handwritten notes out to encourage some of the theatres and industry folk who are in danger of losing their livelihoods. If she did that I wouldn't really care about the quality of her Spanish.