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49.

Our honeymoon¹ was a closely guarded secret. We left London in a car disguised as a removals

van, the windows covered with cardboard, and went to the Mediterranean² for ten days. Glorious to

be away, on the sea, in the sun. But we were also sick. The build-up to the wedding had worn us

down.

We returned just in time for the official June celebration of Granny’s birthday. Trooping the

Color: one of our first public appearances as newlyweds. Everyone present was in a good mood,

upbeat. But then:

Kate asked Meg what she thought of her first Trooping the Color.

And Meg joked: Colorful.

And a yawning silence threatened to swallow us all whole.

Days later Meg went off on her first royal trip with Granny. She was nervous, but they got on

famously. They also bonded³ over their love of dogs.

She returned from the trip glowing. We bonded, she told me. The Queen and I really bonded!

We talked about how much I wanted to be a mom and she told me the best way to induce labor⁴

was a good bumpy⁵ car ride! I told her I’d remember that when the time came.

Things are going to turn around now, we both said.

The papers, however, pronounced the trip an unmitigated disaster. They portrayed⁶ Meg as

pushy⁷, uppity, ignorant of royal protocol⁸, because she’d made the unthinkable mistake of getting

into a car before Granny.

In truth she’d done exactly what Granny had told her to do. Granny said get in; she got in.

No matter. There were stories for days about Meg’s breach⁹, about her overall lack of class—

about her daring not to wear a hat in Granny’s presence. The Palace had specifically directed Meg

not to wear a hat. Granny also wore green to honor the victims of Grenfell Tower, and no one told

Meg to wear green—so they said she didn’t give a fig¹⁰ about the victims.

I said: The Palace will make a phone call. They’ll correct the record.

They didn’t.

1 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

2 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

3 bonded   

n.有担保的，保税的，粘合的

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee.威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• This adhesive must be applied to both surfaces which are to be bonded together.要粘接的两个面都必须涂上这种黏合剂。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

6 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 pushy   

adj.固执己见的，一意孤行的

参考例句：

• But she insisted and was very pushy.但她一直坚持,而且很急于求成。
• He made himself unpopular by being so pushy.他特别喜欢出风头，所以人缘不好。

8 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。

9 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

10 fig   

n.无花果(树)

参考例句：

• The doctor finished the fig he had been eating and selected another.这位医生吃完了嘴里的无花果，又挑了一个。
• You can't find a person who doesn't know fig in the United States.你找不到任何一个在美国的人不知道无花果的。