万花筒 2011-10-30&11-01 英王室女性将获同等王位继承权

 Something gigantic happen to once upon a time, today all those stories about girls who want to be princess as well, guess what? The Nations of the British Commonwealth¹ agree to change the rules after centuries, boys are no longer entitled to the first shot at the throne, ABC's Nick Watt² is in London tonight with the big news for little girls everywhere. 

 

Twelve hundred years of stuffy³ royal history was overturned today with these words. 

 

Put simply, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would have a little girl, that girl would one day be a queen. Because the law that put sons ahead of daughters in the line of succession is no more. 

 

What it will do is ultimately put the Duchess of Cambridge on the map as the woman who changed royal history. 

 

The quest for a male heir has obsessed⁴ British monarch⁵ for centuries. Henry VIII married six times, divorcing or beheading the wives who failed to produce a son. 

 

This is the Queen's Head, my local pub, named after one of our most famous monarches, she was of course a woman but she only became Queen because she didn't have any brothers. And the current Queen only got the job back in 1952 because she was also brotherless. 

 

If ever any example was needed that a woman can do a very very good job in the position, well, we have it in Queen Elizabeth II. 

 

Now the only countries on earth in which younger brothers can still trump⁶ older sisters for the big chair are Saudi Arabia, Monaco, Thailand, Spain, Japan and Morocco.

 

And what do you think about it, Rose? Do you think it's good to girls can become queens as well? 

 

Now I think it's brilliant, I do. 

 

You think it's brilliant. 

 

Yeah.

 

Why? 

 

Why shouldn't girls become a Queen? 

 

Politicians have tried 11 times to dash this law they called primogeniture. But they stumbled every time. This wedding gave the method some urgency. 

 

Obviously, you know, we want a family, so, you know, we have to start thinking about that. 

 

Now we are all thinking, will they have a King or a Queen. 

 

Nick Watt, ABC news, London.

1 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

2 watt   

n.瓦，瓦特

参考例句：

• The invention of the engine is creditable to Watt.发动机的发明归功于瓦特。
• The unit of power is watt.功率的单位是瓦特。

3 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。

4 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

5 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。