評論
打印
Who needs the royals?
誰需要王室？
TO HEAR PUNDITS TALK ABOUT THE ROYALS THIS SPRING,
今年春天，聽專家們談論王室時，即便你認為“王室”就像是
you’d be excused for thinking “The Royal Family” is a prime time soap opera,
一部黃金檔肥皂劇，一部觀眾們癡迷于劇情、劇中的新角色
with viewers obsessing over new characters, story lines and how it’s doing in the ratings.
以及該劇的收視率表現的肥皂劇也情有可原。
Bets were placed on what Prince William and Kate Middleton’s new baby would be named,
民眾紛紛就威廉王子和凱特·米德爾頓寶寶的名字下起注來，
while commentators eagerly discussed whether the new character of Meghan Markle
評論人士也急切地討論著梅根·馬克爾這個新人
would manage to “save” the royal family by marrying Prince Harry.
嫁給哈里王子后是否能夠“拯救”王室。
The answer to all this for most people around the world is simply: Who cares?
對于世界上大多數人而言，這個問題的答案都很簡單：無所謂。
The way Britain celebrated Harry and Meghan’s wedding was a curious reminder
英國人慶祝哈里和梅根婚禮的方式頗有意思地讓人想起，
that the monarchy is rarely evaluated in terms of its actual purpose,
人們很少用王室的實際用途——
which is to provide Britain with an effective head of state.
給英國提供一個有效的國家首腦機構——來衡量王室。
Few pundits seem sure of what that role entails or even why it’s needed,
似乎很少有專家明確知道這個角色意味著什么，他們甚至連英國為什么需要這個角色都不確定，
because in Britain, unlike the U.S., the head of state’s role is ceremonial rather than political.
因為在英國，不像在美國，國家首腦是一種儀式性而非政治性的角色。
And so when a royal wedding happens—Will and Kate’s reportedly cost $34 million, paid for by British taxpayers—
所以，王室舉行婚禮時——據報道，威廉和凱特的婚禮花了3400萬美元，這筆支出最終將由英國的納稅人支付——
the debate usually hinges on two questions: popularity and cost.
有關婚禮的辯論通常會圍繞兩個問題展開：婚禮的受歡迎程度和婚禮的費用。
On the first, we’ve seen a sea change in public perception.
首先，我們看到，公眾觀念已經發生了巨大的變化。
Twenty years ago, the monarchy was seen as rich, expensive and out of touch—
二十年前，王室在大家眼里還是富有、奢侈、可望而不可即這樣一種形象——
particularly during the post-Diana crisis of public confidence,
尤其是在戴安娜王妃去世后，公眾信心出現了危機的那段時間，
when Queen Elizabeth’s apparently cold reaction to her death was met with widespread anger.
當時，伊麗莎白女王對王妃的離世表現出的冷淡引起了廣泛的民憤。
In response, the royal family invested enormous amounts of time and taxpayers’ money to rewrite the script.
因此，王室一邊將大量的時間和納稅人的錢都投入到了扭轉局勢上，
They put on glitzy campaigns around the 2011 royal wedding and the 2012 Golden Jubilee,
將2011年的皇室婚禮和2012年的金禧慶典打造地十分奪目，
and stage-managed announcements around the birth of Kate and William’s children—
還精心策劃了凱特和威廉王子得子的公告，
while at the same time playing hardball with the media and demanding official secrecy and control over their public image.
一邊又對媒體采取強硬態度，要求他們在官方為王室保密并維護王室的公眾形象。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
