西部落：英女王澳洲行

Some monarchists have been getting in a bit of flap about this. The Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, who was born in Wales, she said that she is a Republican one day, she sees Australia becoming a Republic. Well, she chose not to curtsey as the Queen got off the plane yesterday. Instead, she chose to shake the Queen's hand and did a very small bow.

一些君主主义者对此举感到有些慌乱。出生在威尔士的澳大利亚总理茱莉亚·杰拉德说道，只要她一天是共和党人，她就会致力于使澳大利亚变成共和制国家。因此，昨日女王下飞机时，她选择不向女王行屈膝礼。相反，她握住女王的手，略微低头鞠躬。

Now, actually she wasn't breaking royal protocol¹. It's no longer mandatory² for ladies to curtsey to the Queen. They can do if they wish. Many choose to do so, but the Prime Minister said that's not what she wanted. And today she was forced to defend her actions.

如今，事实上她没有打破皇室协议。向女王行屈膝礼已不再是强制性的规定了，而是出于人们的自愿。许多人仍然选择向女王行屈膝礼，而这位总理却没有。她说道，她并不想这样做。如今，她被迫要捍卫自己的行为。

The advice to me was very clear that you can make a choice with what you feel most comfortable with. That's what I feel the most comfortable with. The Queen extended her hand and I shook her hand.

我的建议很明确，就是人应该作出令自己最舒服的选择。那就是我觉得最舒服的选择。女王伸出她的手，我就握住了她的手。

1 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

2 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。