中英双语新闻 我们为何爱戴女王大人（在线收听）

You are listening to a programmes from BBC Radio 4.

Good morning. In one of the best known stories about the Queen she is speaking to a person whose mobile phone then starts ringing. Pausing briefly, the Queen apparently says “You’d better answer that. It may be someone important.”

Today our self-effacing monarch will be at St Paul’s Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving for her 90th birthday. Long life does not in itself generate affection. But the warmth of the admiration for the Queen is such that even people who have never met her speak of loving her.

It’s surprising that the monarchy is so popular when the hereditary principle has been largely excised from the body politic during the Queen’s reign. But there is one place where it is still alive and well – in our families. The next generation does not simply inherit whatever wealth we’ve got but family stories and traditions too. So a royal family can be one with which the people of a nation identify, both in joyful times and sad alike. The Queen’s reference to her “annus horribilis” is vividly remembered. By contrast the recent happy photographs of four generations of the Royal Family together suggest the sort of continuities the frenzy of modern politics can never supply.

Not long ago a coin collector pointed out to me how in our pockets we carry a history of the Queen’s life. Her graceful ageing on our coinage has been delicately done. At the beginning of her reign she was a young woman surrounded by elderly men in politics, the Church, the law and business. She was then a refreshing counter to the mainstream. In her later years she is surrounded by men and women (still mostly men) all very junior to her, a gentle challenge to a society which can sometimes be ageist. The Queen has also travelled against the flow by remaining so emphatically loyal to her Christian faith in an increasingly secular age. When given an opportunity, such as in her Christmas broadcasts, she has spoken of “Jesus Christ being an inspiration and an anchor in my life, a role model of reconciliation and forgiveness”. The Queen has not always followed the trends of her time but remained determinedly consistent. Perhaps our admiration is keener because we realise this is someone whose calling was unchosen, yet whose dedication to it is unwavering and whose steadfastness and faith is a reminder that she is her own person. Some words of Queen Elizabeth I four centuries ago apply equally now to Queen Elizabeth II though she’d probably be too modest to say them - “though God has raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my crown, that I have reigned with your loves”.

您正在收听的是BBC广播4台。

各位早上好。关于女王，有很多众所周知的故事。其中一则是当女王跟某人说话时，这人手机响了。短暂的停顿后，女王明确说道，“你最好还是接起来吧，打电话的可能是个重要的人。”

如今，我们谦逊的女王快要在圣彼得堡大教堂庆祝90岁诞辰。生命并不会因为寿命长而产生温情。但大家对女王的爱戴和从她身上感受到的温暖让即便从未与她蒙面的人都难掩对她的喜爱之情。

不可思议的一点是，即便在女王统治期间世袭制与英国政治体系奋力，也没能阻挡国民对女王的喜爱。但世袭制在一个地方还没有灭绝，那就是家庭中。我们的后代继承的东西不仅有财富，还有家族的故事和传统。与之类似，皇室家族也是世人看待一个国家的标识，无论兴衰荣辱皆是如此。女王提到对她而言“可怕的一年”的场景仍让大家记忆犹新。与之对比，最近皇室家族四世同堂的温馨家庭

不久前，一位硬币收藏夹跟我说，从硬币的演变就能看到女王的一生。女王随着硬币的变化而优雅的变老。女王刚刚上任时还是一位年轻的女子，但她周围都是政坛老手、宗教人士、律师和商人。之后，她的出现对于政坛格局如同一股清泉。在她之后的政治生涯中，身边依然是资历身后的政坛老手，在存有年龄歧视的政坛中，这对于女王确实破有挑战性。在越发世俗化的社会，女王依然特立独行地坚守自己的基督教信仰。一有机会的时候，比如圣诞节演讲，她就提到“嫉妒对于我的生命来说是一种如锚一般的激励，一个和解和宽恕的典范。”女王的一生并没有随波逐流，效仿时代，而是决意坚持自我。或许我们敬仰女王，更因为我们知道虽然在非自愿的情况下，她依然能恪尽职守；而她鉴定的信念也提醒我们，她就是真实不做作的自己。伊丽莎白女王一世的一些话现在也适用于伊丽莎白二世，尽管谦虚如她，绝不会说这段话，那就是“尽管上帝让我身居高位，但我皇冠上的所有光芒都源自你们的爱。”