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43.

There had been spirited arguments in the back corridors of the Palace about whether or not Meg

could—or should—wear a veil. Not possible, some said.

For a divorcée, a veil was thought to be out of the question.

But the powers that be, unexpectedly, showed some flexibility¹ on the subject.

Next came the question of a tiara. My aunts asked if Meg would like to wear my mother’s. We

were both touched. Meg then spent hours and hours with her dress designer, getting the veil to

match the tiara, giving it a similar scalloped edge.

Shortly before the wedding, however, Granny reached out. She offered us access to her

collection of tiaras. She even invited us to Buckingham Palace to try them on. Do come over, I

remember her saying.

Extraordinary morning. We walked into Granny’s private dressing² room, right next to her

bedroom, a space I’d never been in. Along with Granny was a jewelry³ expert, an eminent⁴ historian

who knew the lineage of each stone in the royal collection. Also present was Granny’s dresser and

confidante, Angela. Five tiaras were arrayed on a table, and Granny directed Meg to try on each

one before a full-length mirror. I stood behind, watching.

One was all emeralds. One was aquamarines. Each was more dazzlingly stunning⁵ than the last.

Each took my breath.

I wasn’t the only one. Granny said to Meg quite tenderly: Tiaras suit you.

Meg melted. Thank you, Ma’am.

One of the five, however, stood out. Everyone agreed. It was beautiful, seemingly made for

Meg. Granny said it would be placed in a safe directly and she looked forward to seeing it on

Meg’s head come the Big Day.

Make sure, she added, that you practice putting it on. With your hairdresser. It’s tricky⁶ and

you don’t want to be doing it for the first time on the wedding day.

We left the Palace feeling awed⁷ and loved and grateful.

A week later we contacted Angela and asked her to please send us the chosen tiara so we could

practice putting it on. We’d done research, and we’d spoken to Kate about her own experience,

and we’d learned that Granny’s warning was spot on. The placing of the tiara was an intricate,

elaborate process. It had to be first sewn to the veil, then Meg’s hairdresser would need to fix it to

a small plait in her hair. Complicated, time-consuming—we’d need at least one dress rehearsal⁸.

For some reason, however, Angela didn’t respond to any of our messages.

We kept trying.

No response.

When we finally reached her, she said the tiara would require an orderly and a police escort to

leave the Palace.

That sounded…a bit much. But all right, I said, if that’s protocol⁹, let’s find an orderly and a

police officer and get the ball rolling. Time was running out.

Inexplicably¹⁰, she replied: Can’t be done.

Why can’t it?

Her schedule was too busy.

She was being obstructive, obviously, but for what reason? We couldn’t even hazard a guess. I

considered going to Granny, but that would probably mean sparking an all-out confrontation¹¹, and I

wasn’t quite sure with whom Granny would side.

Also, to my mind, Angela was a troublemaker¹², and I didn’t need her as an enemy.

Above all, she was still in possession of that tiara.

She held all the cards.

1 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

2 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

3 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

4 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

5 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

6 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

7 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

9 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。

10 inexplicably   

adv.无法说明地，难以理解地，令人难以理解的是

参考例句：

• Inexplicably, Mary said she loved John. 真是不可思议，玛丽说她爱约翰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inexplicably, she never turned up. 令人不解的是，她从未露面。 来自辞典例句

11 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

12 troublemaker   

n.惹是生非者，闹事者，捣乱者

参考例句：

• I would hate you to think me a troublemaker.我不愿你认为我是个搬弄是非的人。
• Li Yang has always been a troublemaker.李阳总是制造麻烦。