Following the announcement of his death at the age of 99, French news media republished the video of his speech, which he made during a visit to then-president Charles de Gaulle at the Elysée Palace in 1966.
VIDÉO | Voici une archive savoureuse : celle du prince Philip tenant un discours plein d'humour et en français à l'Élysée en 1966
➡️ https://t.co/f60kjbbqY9 pic.twitter.com/QY6AroqTQ4
— Le Parisien (@le_Parisien) April 9, 2021
The footage reveals the Duke of Edinburgh – who spent part of his childhood in France – to be a competent French speaker, albeit with quite a strong accent, who kept his audience entertained with jokes on the subject of the clichés nations use towards each other.
He jokes that the French are called ‘frogs’ by the English, but diplomatically refrains from revealing any terms the French might use for the English.
He also managed to include some references to the English weather and reputation for drinking tea, to laughter from his audience.
You can check out the full video HERE, courtesy of Le Parisien.
VIDEO: The French accent and vocab of these 11 celebs rated
Le Prince Philip fut une grande figure du siècle pour le Royaume-Uni. Pensées et amitiés pour le peuple britannique. pic.twitter.com/y8UuFzCXRU
— Clement Beaune (@CBeaune) April 9, 2021
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