Who's Next Princess?

Who's Next Princess?

Fair Princess Unfair

Once upon a time, and for hundreds of years, being a princess was a very formal job. It seemed to be about smiling and waving at people.

But when today's young Royals wave and smile, you might just see a flash of a tongue stud, or she may be accompanied by her 1)illegitimate son, whose father is a past boyfriend with a drug 2)conviction.

In 3)stuffier England, Zara Phillips, the granddaughter of the queen, got 4)publicity¹ for more 5)minor² 6)offenses...like having a tongue stud, and getting photographed drinking a beer, and fighting with her live-in boyfriend. Yet decades ago her grand aunt, Princess Margaret was considered the bad girl merely for doing things like smoking and falling in love with a divorced man. When she gave him up, to keep her Royal position, 7)newsreels broadcast her statement worldwide. 

Reporter: Princess Margaret's personal message began with these words, "I would like it to be known that I have decided⁴ not to marry 8)Group Captain Peter Townsend."
 
She later married and divorced a commoner. That was not done! It was not done until Diana changed things. 

John Kennedy(ABC News consultant): I think Prince Charles was probably the last 9)heir to a throne that had to marry someone that had no past and hadn't been with anybody. Now, after the "Diana" business, there were no weddings for a long, long time of heirs to thrones. It caused 10)trauma⁵ amongst the Crown Princes, what had happened? So we've suddenly seen now a 11)spate⁶ of engagements to new-crown princesses, all of whom are completely different from Diana. They've got a past, they've been through scandals.
 
Like Mette-Marit, too, who had to go on television with the 12)Crown Prince of Norway, and make a tearful apology for her past wild partying...before she could marry him at this lavish⁷ Royal wedding. The ceremony included her son from a past boyfriend.

Reporter: What's the job of the modern Princess?

Kennedy: To try and keep out of the gossip columns as much as possible. It seems to have 13)come down to that, uhm...

Reporter: Smile, wave...

Kennedy: ...smile, wave, and produce an heir.
 
Aha! The new Crown Princesses of Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands have done that. All gave birth to girls, and these girls will grow up to be reigning⁸ queens, so their every move is being watched. And if they rebel, like Zara and Stephanie, people seem to say, “Who cares?”

Cinderella Never Die
 
In the recent film, "The Prince and Me," a reluctant Crown Prince from Denmark just wants to be a regular guy. Hiding out at an American college, he falls for an ordinary medical student. If it sounds like a modern-day 14)Cinderella story—only for the movies—think again. 
 
Meet the real heir to the Danish throne, His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Frederick, and the woman who stole his heart, an ordinary advertising⁹ manager from Australia.

Mary: The first time that, we met, or shook hands, I did not know he was the Crown Prince of Denmark.

That's because, when they met at this 15)trendy nightclub during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, he introduced himself simply as "Fred." 

Mary: It was perhaps half an hour or so later that someone came up to me and said, "Do you know who these people are?" I said, "No," and then we found out.

Frederick: Of course, I wasn't the only Crown Prince in that crowd that evening, so, it's really important to keep your focus there.
 
To appreciate this unusual match, you need to go back to the beginning. 
 
While Mary was growing up in a middle-class home half a world away, Frederick was already in line to be king. At the 16)tender age of three, after his grandfather died and his mother became queen, he became heir to the throne of Europe's oldest monarchy¹⁰. He knew nothing of it until 17)grade school. 

Frederick: It didn't 18)reconcile with an explanation. It was just told, "OK, you're the next in line. You're actually going to become a king."
 
In fact, his parents, Queen Margrethe and his French-born father, Prince Henrik, went out of the way to give the Crown Prince and his younger brother a normal childhood—no royal tutors, just regular Danish schools. 
And, just like in the movie, this real life Crown Prince studied abroad, a year at Harvard, using an 19)assumed name—Frederick Henderson. 
Frederick: ...as some of the students said,"actually have you heard that there's a Danish Prince around here, on the college?" I said, "Yeah, I have actually heard."

Reporter: (Laughing) I've heard of him.

Frederick: And then some would say, "Is that might be you?" and then I'd say, "Well, yeah."
 
Anna Johanneson, a reporter with Denmark's weekly royal magazine, broke the story of the Crown Prince's secret relationship. She snapped the first pictures of then 29-year-old Mary Donaldson, the daughter of an Australian College professor. Until then the year-long romance had been 20)hush-hush. Far from the watchful¹¹ eye of the Danish media, the relationship, between working girl and future king had flourished. Soon after, Mary moved to Copenhagen, leaving her family and life in Australia behind. She took a job with a computer company and began learning the Prince's difficult Danish language. Ending years of speculation¹², Prince Frederick finally proposed to his long-time girlfriend, with his mother's royal blessing¹³, of course.

注释：
1) illegitimate [7ili5dVitimit] v. 庶生的，私生的
2) conviction [kEn5vikFEn] n. 定罪，宣告有罪
3) stuffy¹⁴ [5stQfi] a. 乏味的
4) publicity [pQb5lisiti] n. 公开
5) minor [5mainE] a. 较小的，次要的
6) offense³ [E5fens] n. 引起反感的事物，过错
7) newsreel [5nju:zri:l] n. 新闻影片
8) group captain <英国与其它英联邦国家的>空军上校
9) heir [ZE] n. 继承人
10) trauma [5trC:mE] n. 精神创伤；外伤
11) spate [speit] n. 大批，大量
12) crown prince 皇太子，王储
13) come down to 可归结为，实质上意味着
14) Cinderella [7sindE5relE] n. 灰姑娘
15) trendy [5trendi] a. 前卫的，新潮的
16) tender age 幼年
17) grade school <美>小学，初等学校
18) reconcile with 与……相一致，与……符合
19) assumed name 假名，笔名
20) hush-hush 暗中进行的，秘密的

今日皇室新眷侣

（一） 公主王妃也疯狂

    很久以前，有那么几百年的时间，做公主或王妃是一项极其正式的工作，而朝人们微笑和挥手致意似乎就是这项工作的主要内容了。

    可今天，当年轻的皇室成员们微笑着向人们挥手致意时，你可能会看到其闪烁的舌环，或者陪伴在侧的私生子，其父亲是曾因吸毒被控有罪的前度男友。

    在更为保守乏味的英格兰，女王伊丽莎白的外孙女扎拉·菲利普斯因不断犯些小毛病而频频曝光——诸如戴舌环、被人拍到喝啤酒、和同居男友打架这类事情。然而，就在几十年前，她的姨婆——玛格丽特公主，仅仅因为抽抽烟、爱上离婚男人就被认为是坏女孩了。当她放弃那个男人以保住王室地位时，新闻媒体向全世界广播了她的声明。

记者：玛格丽特公主的个人声明是这样开头的：“我希望大家知道，我已决定不与空军上校彼得·汤森结婚。”

她之后与一个平民结婚，后又离婚——这是不可能被接受的事，在戴安娜打破了皇室的种种传统之前，这种事情都是不可思议的。

约翰·肯尼迪（ABC新闻顾问）：我想查尔斯王子可能是最后一个不得不找完全没有恋爱史的人结婚的王储了。结果，“戴安娜”事件以后，很长一段时间都没有什么王位继承人举行婚礼。这件事给王储们留下了创伤——到底怎么了？然后我们又突然目睹一股订立新王妃的浪潮, 而所有这些王妃都和戴安娜完全不同。她们都有恋爱旧史，而且不乏丑闻。

    就像梅特－马里特，她就得和挪威王储一起上电视、声泪俱下地就以往的疯狂放纵公开道歉才可以和他在这样奢华的皇室婚礼上结为夫妻。而她和前任男友所生的儿子也参加了婚礼。

记者：现代王妃的工作是什么？

约翰：尽量远离流言蜚语。归结起来似乎就是那样，嗯……

记者：微笑、挥手……

约翰：……微笑、挥手、生个王位继承人。
   
啊哈！挪威、比利时和荷兰的王妃们都这样做了。她们生的都是女儿，长大以后就是女王了，所以她们的一举一动都受人注视。而如果她们长大后像扎拉那样叛逆，人们可能只会说句“管他呢！”

（二） 只爱“灰姑娘”

    在最近一部影片《王子和我》中，一位心不甘情不愿的丹麦王储只想做一名普通人。他躲在美国一所大学念书，爱上了一名医学专业的普通学生。如果说这听起来像是现代版的“灰姑娘”故事——只是电影里才有，那你说这话前可要三思啊。
    我们来看看现实的丹麦王储弗雷德里克王子殿下以及那个令他神魂颠倒的女子——澳大利亚一名普通的广告经理。

玛丽：我们第一次见面、握手的时候，我并不知道他就是丹麦王储。
   
那是因为，2000年悉尼奥运期间，当他们在一个时髦的夜总会相遇时，他仅仅介绍自己叫“弗雷德”。 

玛丽：大约过了半小时，有人走过来对我说：“你知道这些人是谁吗？”我说：“不知道。”然后，我们就知道了一切。

弗雷德里克：当然，我不是当晚那里唯一的王储，所以要把注意力集中到我身上还真是很重要的。
   
要更好地欣赏这个不同寻常的结合，我们还得从头说起。 
    玛丽在相隔半个地球之外的一个中产阶级家庭长大，那时，弗雷德里克已经是王位继承人了。三岁的时候，弗雷德里克的外祖父去世，母亲成了女王，他也顺理成章成为欧洲最古老君主国的王储。可他直到上小学才知道这回事。 

弗雷德里克：根本没有解释。人们只是告诉我“好了，你是下一位王位继承人。你将会成为国王。”
   
实际上，他的父母——玛格丽特女王及其法国出生的丈夫亨里克亲王，一直努力让王储及其小王弟能拥有正常的童年生活——他们没有皇家教师，而是就读于普通的丹麦学校。 
    就像电影里的那样，在现实生活中，王储去过海外念书——他在哈佛读了一年，用的是一个假名：弗雷德里克·亨德森。

弗雷德里克：……有些学生会问：“我说，你有没听说有个丹麦王子在我们学院念书？”我就回答：“嗯，我听说过。”

记者：（大笑）我也听说过他。

弗雷德里克：然后有人会说：“会不会就是你啊？”我就回答：“嗯，正是我。”

    丹麦皇家周刊的记者安娜·乔汉尼森，公开了王储的秘密恋情。她最先拍到了玛丽·唐纳德森的照片，当时玛丽29岁，是澳大利亚一名大学教授之女。在此之前的一年里，这段罗曼史还一直是在暗地里进行。远离了丹麦媒体敏锐的视线，这段工薪阶层女子和未来国王之间的恋情已经迅速升温。很快，玛丽搬到了哥本哈根，离开了澳大利亚的家和生活。她在一家电脑公司找到了一份工作并开始学习王储说的难学的丹麦语。在经历了外界对这段恋情的长期猜测后，弗雷德里克王储终于向相恋已久的女友求婚——当然，也得到了母后的首肯。

1 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

6 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

7 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

8 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

9 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

10 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

11 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

12 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

13 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

14 stuffy   

adj.不透气的，闷热的

参考例句：

• It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。
• It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。