| Show king could not speak english T george I 1 king of england from 1714 to 1727 could neither speak nor write the english langu language ageo notes a writer in the indianapolis news he was the son of ernest augustus elector of hanover and sophia granddaughter of james 1 I of england the german became the nearest heir to the english crown on the theory that the blood of james 11 II in the direct line was corrupted when he succeeded queen anne as sovereign of england he was fifty four years old and he made no attempt to learn the language of his kingdom william of orange who reigned jointly with his wife mary from 1689 to 1694 and as sole sovereign from 1694 until 1702 was dutch in nationality f r T knew very little english and was j not sufficiently master of our lan guage to address the house from the throne in his own words on important occasions it was his practice to write his speech in french and to employ a translator french was the native language of the english kings for many generations after the norman conquest |
