VOA慢速英语2019 宪法危机引发人们对欧洲君主的关注

Constitutional Crises Bring Attention to European Monarchs²

For most of the last 100 years, Europe's royalty³ have mainly been known for big weddings and newspaper gossip. Now, that might be changing.

在过去的一百多年里，欧洲王室成员主要以大型婚礼和报纸八卦而闻名于世。现在，这可能正在发生变化。

Spain’s King Felipe VI used his power to denounce Catalonian separatism. He called the leaders of the 2017 popular vote for independence from Spain criminals. He also said it was his constitutional duty to save national unity⁴.

西班牙国王费利佩六世动用了他的影响力谴责加泰罗尼亚的分离主义。他称2017年加泰罗尼亚独立公投的领导人是罪犯。他还表示，维护国家统一是他的宪法责任。

Recently, the British media has wondered if Queen Elizabeth II will be called upon to end a possible constitutional crisis. It could involve Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to withdraw Britain from the European Union on October 31. Johnson said he will move forward with “Brexit” even if there is no official agreement with the EU.

最近，英国媒体很想知道英国女王伊丽莎白二世是否会被要求终止一项潜在的宪法危机。这可能涉及到英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊计划于10月31日退出欧盟。约翰逊表示，即便未同欧盟达成正式协议，他也将推进英国脱欧。

Monarchs face political crises, and risks

君主面临政治危机和风险

The two royal heads of state would appear to have little in common.

这两位王室领导似乎没有什么共同之处。

Elizabeth II has been Queen for 67 years. Felipe became King just five years ago after the abdication⁵ of his father, King Juan Carlos, who was restored to the throne by dictator Francisco Franco in 1969.

伊丽莎白二世已经在女王位置上坐了67年。费利佩于5年前在他的父亲胡安·卡洛斯退位后成为了西班牙国王。卡洛斯于1969年被独裁者弗朗西斯科·佛朗哥恢复王位。

They are relatives through Queen Victoria, who ruled the British Empire in the 1800s.

他们都是曾于19世纪统治大英帝国的维多利亚女王的亲属。

Political science professor William Ogilvie de la Vega of Franciso Marroquin University in Madrid said that both rulers are being asked to make political decisions. He said the reason is because elected politicians seem to be unable to do their jobs.

马德里Franciso Marroquin大学的政治学教授威廉·奥格尔维·德拉维加表示，这两位统治者都被要求做出政治决定。他说原因是当选的政治家似乎无法胜任其职。

The two monarchs remain as constitutional heads of state. They hold what former Spanish ambassador to Britain Federico Trillo-Figueroa describes as “sleeping powers.”

这两位君主仍然是国家宪法意义上的元首。他们掌握了前西班牙驻英国大使费德里科·特里洛 - 菲格罗亚所说的“未觉醒的权力。”

Queen Elizabeth II has the power to start and end parliament and to sign legislation into law. She exercises those powers only at the request of the prime minister.

英国女王伊丽莎白二世有权启动和解散议会，以及将立法签署为法律。她只是应英国首相要求行使这些权力。

These powers "are normally exercised in an invisible way” Trillo-Figueroa told VOA.

特里洛 - 菲格罗亚对美国之音表示，（君主们）“通常是以无形的方式行使”这些权力。

But stepping into politics can cause problems.

但是涉足政治可能会导致问题。

Queen Elizabeth II has the power to refuse Johnson’s request to suspend parliament’s session if ministers try to stop Britain’s EU withdrawal⁶ without an agreement. However, she would risk angering the most traditional parts of British society -- and many of them voted to leave the EU in a 2015 popular vote. Officials at Buckingham Palace, the home of British monarchs, has said that the “will of parliament should be respected.”

如果内阁部长们试图阻止英国无协议脱欧，约翰逊会提请女王暂停议会，伊丽莎白二世有权拒绝约翰逊的这一请求。然而她要冒着激怒英国社会最传统势力的风险，他们中的大多数人在2015年公投中投票支持英国脱欧。英国王室所在的白金汉宫的官员表示：“议会的意愿应该得到尊重。”

A top supporter of Brexit, Nigel Farage, then released an attack on the royal family.

英国脱欧的一位高层支持者奈杰尔·法拉格随后对王室发表了攻击言论。

King Felipe similarly earned the anger of Catalan nationalists by openly supporting the federal government’s direct rule over Catalonia. Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau opposes Catalan independence, but she stays away from the king when he comes to Spain’s second largest city. Felipe is usually met with protests in the Catalan capital.

费利佩国王公开支持联邦政府对加泰罗尼亚的直接统治同样招来了加泰罗尼亚民族主义者的愤怒。巴塞罗那市长阿达·科洛反对加泰罗尼亚独立，但是当费利佩国王来到了巴塞罗那这座西班牙第二大城市时，她与国王保持了距离。费利佩在加泰罗尼亚首府巴塞罗那通常会遇到抗议。

The newspaper El Mundo reported that former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy advised against a royal televised speech during the crisis in Catalonia. In the speech, Felipe accused Catalan officials of acting⁷ with unacceptable “disloyalty," before the government officially charged them with sedition⁸ and rebellion.

《西班牙世界报》报道称，前首相马里亚诺·拉霍伊不赞成王室在加泰罗尼亚危机期间的一次电视讲话。在西班牙政府正式指控加泰罗尼亚官员煽动叛乱之前，费利佩国王就在这次讲话中指责他们采取了令人无法接受的不忠行为。

But Raquel Casviner Ca?ellas of the Catalan Civic⁹ Union said the king needed to speak to Spanish unionists who felt that the central government had been too weak.

但是加泰罗尼亚公民联盟的的拉奎尔·卡斯维纳·卡纳拉斯表示，国王需要与西班牙统一主义者对话，他们认为中央政府过于软弱。

Felipe’s father, Juan Carlos, helped the country move to democracy after the death of Franco. He later helped stop an attempt by the military in 1981 to seize power.

费利佩的父亲卡洛斯在佛朗哥去世后帮助西班牙走向了民主。他随后还协助阻止了1981年军方试图夺权政权的企图。

The younger generations of royals also seem to be more interested in politics. Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, has been criticized for her political opinions in a coming article she edited for British Vogue¹⁰, titled “Fifteen forces for change.”

年轻一代的王室成员似乎对政治更感兴趣。哈里王子的妻子、苏塞克斯公爵夫人梅森·马克尔为英国《时尚》杂志编辑了一篇题为《15种变革力量》的文章，她在这篇即将发表的文章中表现出来的政治观点就受到了批评。

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

gossip – n. information about the personal lives of people

abdication –n. the process of leaving the position of being king or queen

monarch¹ – n. a king or queen

invisible –adj. not possible to see

session –n. a period of time when a group is meeting

sedition – n. the crime of saying, writing, or doing something that encourages people to disobey their governmen

article – n. a piece of writing about a particular subject that is included in a magazine, newspaper or online

1 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

2 monarchs   

君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Monarchs ruled England for centuries. 世袭君主统治英格兰有许多世纪。
• Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity. 他在大不列颠本国为六位君王服务，也为全人类的自由和尊严服务。 来自演讲部分

3 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 abdication   

n.辞职；退位

参考例句：

• The officers took over and forced his abdication in 1947.1947年军官们接管了政权并迫使他退了位。
• Abdication is precluded by the lack of a possible successor.因为没有可能的继承人，让位无法实现。

6 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 sedition   

n.煽动叛乱

参考例句：

• Government officials charged him with sedition.政府官员指控他煽动人们造反。
• His denial of sedition was a denial of violence.他对煽动叛乱的否定又是对暴力的否定。

9 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

10 Vogue   

n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的

参考例句：

• Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
• Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。