3-70

70.

I was summoned to Buckingham Palace. A lunch with Granny and Pa. The invitation was

contained in a terse¹ email from the Bee, and the tone wasn’t: Would you mind popping around?

It was more: Get your arse over here.

I threw on a suit, jumped into the car.

The Bee and the Wasp² were the first faces I saw when I walked into the room. An ambush³. I

thought this was to be a family lunch. Apparently⁴ not.

Alone, without my staff, without Meg, I was confronted directly about my legal action. My

father said it was massively damaging to the reputation of the family.

How so?

It makes our relationship with the media complicated.

Complicated. There’s a word.

Anything you do affects the whole family.

One could say the same about all your actions and decisions. They affect us as well. Like, for

instance, wining and dining the same editors and journalists who’ve been attacking me and my

wife…

The Bee or the Wasp jumped in to remind me: One has to have a relationship with the press…

Sir, we’ve talked about this before!

A relationship yes. But not a sordid⁶ affair.

I tried a new tack⁵. Everyone in this family has sued the press, including Granny. Why’s this

any different?

Chirping⁷ crickets. Silence.

There was some more wrangling⁸, and then I said:

We had no other option. And we wouldn’t have had to do it if you’d all protected us. And

protected the monarchy⁹ in the process. You’re doing a disservice to yourselves by not protecting

my wife.

I looked around the table. Stony¹⁰ faces. Was it incomprehension? Cognitive¹¹ dissonance? A

long-term mission at play? Or…did they really not know? Were they so deep inside a bubble

inside a bubble that they really hadn’t fully¹² appreciated how bad things were?

For instance, Tatler magazine quoting an old Etonian saying I’d married Meg because

“foreigners” like her are “easier” than girls “with the right background.”

Or the Daily Mail saying Meg was “upwardly mobile,” because she’d gone from “slaves to

royalty” in just 150 years.

Or the social media posts about her being a “yacht girl” and an “escort,” or calling her a “gold-

digger,” and “a whore,” and “a bitch,” and “a slut,” and the N-word—repeatedly. Some of those

posts were in the comments section on the pages of all three Palaces’ social media accounts—and

still hadn’t been expunged¹³.

Or the tweet that said: “Dear Duchess, I’m not saying that I hate you but I hope your next

period happens in a shark tank.”

Or the revelation of racist¹⁴ texts from Jo Marney, girlfriend of UKIP leader Henry Bolton,

including one saying that my “black American” fiancée would “taint” the Royal Family, setting

the stage for “a black king,” and another averring¹⁵ that Ms. Marney would never have sex with “a

Negro.”

“This is Britain, not Africa.”

Or the Mail complaining that Meg couldn’t keep her hands off her baby bump, that she was

rubbing it and rubbing it as if she were a succubus.

Things had got so out of hand, seventy-two women in Parliament, from both main parties, had

condemned¹⁶ the “colonial undertones” of all newspaper coverage¹⁷ of The Duchess of Sussex.

None of these things had merited one comment, public or private, from my family.

I knew how they rationalized it all, saying it was no different from what Camilla got. Or Kate.

But it was different. One study looked closely at four hundred vile¹⁸ tweets about Meg. Employing a

team of data specialists and computer analysts¹⁹ the study found that this avalanche²⁰ of hate was

wildly atypical, light-years from anything directed at Camilla or Kate. A tweet calling Meg “the

queen of monkey island” had no historical precedent²¹ or equivalent.

And this wasn’t about hurt feelings or bruised²² egos²³. Hate had physical effects. There was a ton

of science showing how unhealthy it is to be publicly hated and mocked. Meanwhile, the wider

societal effects were even scarier. Certain kinds of people are more susceptible²⁴ to such hate, and

incited²⁵ by it. Hence the package of suspicious white powder that had been sent to our office, with a

disgusting racist note attached.

I looked at Granny, looked around the room, reminded them that Meg and I had been coping

with a wholly unique situation, and doing it all by ourselves. Our dedicated²⁶ staff was too small, too

young, grossly underfunded.

The Bee and the Wasp harrumphed and said we should’ve let it be known that we were under-

resourced.

Let it be known? I said I’d begged them repeatedly, all of them, and one of our top aides had

sent in pleas as well—multiple times.

Granny looked directly at the Bee and the Wasp: Is this true?

The Bee looked her right in the eye, and, with the Wasp nodding vigorously in assent²⁷, said:

Your Majesty²⁸, we never received any of these requests for support.

1 terse   

adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的

参考例句：

• Her reply about the matter was terse.她对此事的答复简明扼要。
• The president issued a terse statement denying the charges.总统发表了一份简短的声明，否认那些指控。

2 wasp   

n.黄蜂，蚂蜂

参考例句：

• A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
• Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。

3 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

6 sordid   

adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的

参考例句：

• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively.他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。
• They lived in a sordid apartment.他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。

7 chirping   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫，把我们吵醒了。
• The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。

8 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

9 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。

10 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

11 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 expunged   

v.擦掉( expunge的过去式和过去分词 )；除去；删去；消除

参考例句：

• Details of his criminal activities were expunged from the file. 他犯罪活动的详细情况已从档案中删去。
• His name is expunged from the list. 他的名字从名单中被除掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

15 averring   

v.断言( aver的现在分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出

参考例句：

16 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

17 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

18 vile   

adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的

参考例句：

• Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？
• Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

19 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

20 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

21 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

22 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

23 egos   

自我，自尊，自负( ego的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their egos are so easily bruised. 他们的自尊心很容易受到伤害。
• The belief in it issues from the puerile egos of inferior men. 这种信仰是下等人幼稚的自私意识中产生的。

24 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

25 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

26 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

27 assent   

v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
• The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。

28 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！