Princess Lilian was a personal friend of mine and watching clips with her bring back many happy memories, she is dearly missed.
She spoke Swedish ok but never grasped the language 100%. It didn't help that most Swedes speaks perfect English and often enjoyed speaking English with the Princess. She never wrote in Swedish, always dreamt and thought in English, and Prince Bertil and the entire royal family always spoke English with her.
I can hear her frail voice saying: "Roger, this is the most fun I have ever had with my cloths on", when I said goodbye to her after one of our gin and tonic dates at Villa Solbacken. She had a very naughty sense of homour. She may have looked like a fragile china doll but she could speak like a sailor One of her best "royal" friends was the Duke of Edinburgh and they shared many jokes together. I'd like to think that they are laughing with each other once again in heaven.
I've watched a few videos about Princess Lilian recently on YouTube. Most were from her later years when she was a widow. In all of them she speaks English, even when carrying out interviews or duties in Sweden. I took it she was not confident in Swedish. Then I watched the following interview from 1976 where she converses in Swedish . To Swedish ears was she fluent and why later did she revert back to English in public? In the 30 years when Lilian and Bertil weren't allowed to marry did she travel to Sweden or did they meet abroad? I know she had no public role until the present King allowed the marriage but did she meet Prince Bertil' s family in private? I find Lilian a very interesting figure.
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