# Why does the Prince of Monaco speak English with a North American accent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161 "2018-12-15T04:34:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/1 "2018-12-15T04:34:36Z")
[Prince Albert II of Monaco.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5z5VhbFrgI) He speaks in a voice nearly indistinguishable from that of a Canadian. There is not the faintest trace of a European accent there. His Wikipedia article says that he attended summer camp in America and spent a few years enrolled at Amherst College. Would this experience be enough to completely override any native accent with a neutral American/Canadian one? Or did he deliberately work at perfecting this accent? Edit: apparently I missed that his mother was an American actress.:smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack: ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/2 "2018-12-15T04:37:37Z")
nm. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/3 "2018-12-15T04:40:01Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Edit: apparently I missed that his mother was an American actress.:smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack: This is why; he’s been an English speaker from birth. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/4 "2018-12-15T04:55:14Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Edit: apparently I missed that his mother was an American actress.:smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack: It was kind of a big story at the time. 😃 I wish he had a really strong Philly/DelCo accent like his mother grew up around and pointedly made sure she didn’t retain. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/5 "2018-12-15T07:50:02Z")
Boy, talk about making me feel old…when I was a kid, all of the tabloids had the Monegasque royal family all over them. All 3 of the kids were just scandalous! And now Albert’s become a nebbishy, middle-aged baldy…at least tell me that Stephanie’s still a public scandal! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/6 "2018-12-15T10:00:07Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Boy, talk about making me feel old…when I was a kid, all of the tabloids had the Monegasque royal family all over them. All 3 of the kids were just scandalous! And now Albert’s become a nebbishy, middle-aged baldy…at least tell me that Stephanie’s still a public scandal! 😃 Albert has looked like a CPA since he was in his 20s. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/7 "2018-12-15T18:58:51Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Boy, talk about making me feel old…when I was a kid, all of the tabloids had the Monegasque royal family all over them. All 3 of the kids were just scandalous! And now Albert’s become a nebbishy, middle-aged baldy…at least tell me that Stephanie’s still a public scandal! 😃 From [Princess Stéphanie of Monaco - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_St%C3%A9phanie_of_Monaco) > [@](#): > > Stéphanie had dated Paul Belmondo,[25] Anthony Delon,[26] Rob Lowe, Mario Oliver Jutard and Jean-Yves Le Fur before she began a relationship with her bodyguard Daniel Ducruet in 1992.[27] > > The couple had two children: > > Louis Robert Paul Ducruet, born 26 November 1992 at Princess Grace Hospital Centre in Monaco > Pauline Grace Maguy Ducruet, born 4 May 1994 at Princess Grace Hospital Centre in Monaco > The children were included in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne when Stéphanie married Ducruet on 1 July 1995 in Monaco.[28] The couple divorced on 4 October 1996. > > Stéphanie gave birth to her third child: > > Camille Marie Kelly Gottlieb, on 15 July 1998 at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre in Monte Carlo, Monaco[29] > Although she did not identify the father’s name on the birth certificate, many suspected, from the start, that Camille’s father is Jean Raymond Gottlieb.[30] and, indeed, Camille herself has acknowledged Gottlieb as her father.[31] As her parents never married, Camille is not included in the line of succession to the Monegasque throne. > Stéphanie and her brother Albert (far left) in August 2013 > In 2001, Stéphanie began a relationship with married elephant trainer Franco Knie and moved, along with her three children, into Knie’s circus caravan. However, that relationship came to an end in 2002, and Stéphanie and her family returned to Monaco.[32] On 12 September 2003, Stéphanie married Portuguese acrobat Adans Lopez Peres, a member of Knie’s circus ensemble.[33] The marriage ended in divorce on 24 November 2004.[34] > > Stéphanie is the godmother to Andrea Casiraghi, the eldest son of her sister Princess Caroline.[35][36] > > Princess Stéphanie and her family live in the Villa Clos Saint-Martin in Monaco-ville.[37] She has been very [del]boring[/del] respectable for over a decade ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/8 "2018-12-15T19:15:28Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > From [Princess Stéphanie of Monaco - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_St%C3%A9phanie_of_Monaco) > > She has been very [del]boring[/del] respectable for over a decade ☹ One of the minor arguments for retaining monarchy is that they perform a sort of national soap opera role. Stephanie hooking up with an elephant trainer and moving her family into his circus caravan is just the sort of thing that Harry and Meghan should be getting up to, quite frankly. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/9 "2018-12-15T19:17:43Z")
NM. I read the wiki wrong. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/10 "2018-12-15T19:38:24Z")
His mother had a faux British influenced accent in the films I have seen. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/11 "2018-12-15T19:54:08Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > His mother had a faux British influenced accent in the films I have seen. Grace Kelly spoke with what is known as the Mid-Atlantic or Transatlantic accent, which was an affected accent spoken most commonly by the upper-middle and upper-class in the Northeast US, and emulated in many entertainment venues in the early 20th Century. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/12 "2018-12-15T20:35:48Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Edit: apparently I missed that his mother was an American actress.:smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack::smack: Not only that, but I once heard his father Rainier talking English in a documentary, and it was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/13 "2018-12-15T20:38:21Z")
Albert doesn’t have a mid-Atlantic accent though, he has what I would describe as a North-Midwestern American accent, almost like a Canadian accent. And very generic, not mannered or posh in any way. I watched some other videos of him, he seems extremely unpretentious and could pass as an average middle-class American easily. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-prince-of-monaco-speak-english-with-a-north-american-accent/826161/14 "2018-12-15T21:31:09Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Boy, talk about making me feel old…when I was a kid, all of the tabloids had the Monegasque royal family all over them. All 3 of the kids were just scandalous! And now Albert’s become a nebbishy, middle-aged baldy…at least tell me that Stephanie’s still a public scandal! 😃 Prince Albert was long believed to be gay, until it was revealed that he’d had two children with a flight attendant of western African descent. (AC/DC, perhaps?)