Queen Letizia’s intelligence has never been in doubt. The Spanish consort is a graduate of the Complutense University of Madrid where she received a degree in Information Sciences and has a Master’s degree in Audiovisual Journalism from the Institute of Audiovisual Journalism Studies, so she usually surprises in her public events when she shows off her intellect.
This time, the wife of King Felipe attended the celebration of the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day. At this official engagement, the queen surprised many by speaking Ukrainian.
The expert journalist wanted to have a detail with the president of the Ukrainian Red Cross, present in the room, so she addressed him with a few words in his language. “Laskavo prosymo do Ispaniyi”, said Letizia, and then clarified the translation for the others: “I think it means ‘welcome to Spain’ in Ukrainian, if I am not mistaken”.
How many languages does Queen Letizia speak?
A former profession as a journalist has made Letizia one of the royals who best delivers her speeches. Her fluency, intonation, and even her improvisations make everyone mesmerized when she speaks.
In addition to her native Spanish, the consort has a perfect command of English, German, and Portuguese. They also have a great knowledge of Spanish languages such as Catalan, Basque, and Galician.
The consort also learned sign language and demonstrated it at the awards ceremony of the Foundation and State Confederation of Deaf People (CSNE) several years ago.
The Queen wanted to pass on her love of languages to her daughters and both Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia can communicate perfectly in English, French, Catalan and have knowledge of Chinese and Arabic.
🇺🇦❤️🇪🇸 La Reina Letizia se lanza a hablar en ucraniano para darle la bienvenida al presidente de la Cruz Roja de Ucrania.
— ABC.es (@abc_es) May 30, 2023