http://localhost:8080/lalique-cockerel Senior Fellow, Hillsdale College Churchill Project, Writer and Historian Fri, 24 Jan 2025 21:31:13 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 http://localhost:8080/lalique-cockerel#comment-89532 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 21:31:13 +0000 https://richardlangworth.com/?p=18614#comment-89532 With respect, and unless I have missed something, why is there no actual mention of the words Clementine made to the General? They would be of interest especially to reveal just how perfect her knowledge of French was. She never came across to me to be very outgoing where foreign languages are concerned especially where delicate exchanges of opinion might be undiplomatic. In fact I have never any report of her speaking French in pubic. I find English people speaking French in France disappointing, and one Ambassador failed to speak it all. It would interesting to know what she said to de Gaulle and whether it proved effective. My opinion is that English people rarely speak French earnestly or seriously because others might think they’ve “gone native.”
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There is no record of exactly what Clementine said because it was never written down. What we know comes from her daughter Mary, and I have recorded that verbatim. Nor was she ever reticent to speak her mind when unjust things were said. We do know Clementine’s words were effective—the whole point of the story is that they produced an immediate apology from de Gaulle, and later the Lalique cockerel. Clementine grew up in Dieppe, was fluent in French, and taught it to English students. Though not a stump speaker, she spoke French on several public occasions to high acclaim from her audiences. —RML

]]> http://localhost:8080/lalique-cockerel#comment-89518 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 17:30:28 +0000 https://richardlangworth.com/?p=18614#comment-89518 What marvelous story to share. Thank you ever so much.

]]> http://localhost:8080/lalique-cockerel#comment-89509 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 14:49:29 +0000 https://richardlangworth.com/?p=18614#comment-89509 Canada and Anglo Quebecers lost much of their respect for de Gaulle, when in 1967, during a state visit to Montreal (Expo 67), from the balcony of the city hall proclaimed, “Vive le Québec libre”, the slogan of Quebec independence.
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True, but he always said what he believed, and that’s not common among politicians, whether or not we agree with them. —RML

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