AnnaS chided ever so gently
While the Mad Max-'n'-Cap's quid-pro-quos (quids-pro-quo??) are always amusing, I'd like to return to the topic at hand if I may:I'm outraged - CapK's dazzling repartee is worth much more than a mere quid ($3.38 NZ)! I will however let the slight pass, as I agree that the great strength of English has always been is shamelessly kleptomaniac nature. I was under the impression that the Hanoverian George was not the only post-Norman English monarch who did not speak English. I read somewhere that Richard Couer de Lion was also not conversant with the language of his English subjects, which may explain why he spent only a few months of his reign there. The other thing that amuses me about Richard is the apparent lack of fuss made then about his being gay. It seems that 12 Century was a much more tolerant era than the 20th, or at least an era in which it was recognised that one's sexual proclivities have little or no relevance to one's competence as a political leader.
Chacun to his Geschmack 
