VOA慢速英语2019 哈里梅根宣布退出英国王室

Britain's Prince Harry¹ and his wife Meghan have announced they will step back from senior positions in the royal family. The couple said they hope to become financially independent and create a new charity -- while continuing some royal duties.

英国哈里王子和他的妻子梅根宣布他们将辞去王室职务。哈里夫妇表示，他们希望经济独立，成立一家新的慈善机构，同时继续履行一些王室职责。

The move came as a surprise to the British royal family. Hours after the announcement appeared on Instagram, Buckingham Palace released a short statement. It said discussions with Harry and Meghan "were at an early stage" and that such complex issues take time to work out.

此举令英国王室上下感到意外。消息发布在Instagram上数小时后，白金汉宫发表了一份简短声明。声明称，与哈里和梅根的讨论“尚处于早期阶段”，这些复杂的问题需要时间来解决。

British media did not like the idea, either. The Daily Mirror called the announcement a "shocking disregard" for the Queen. The Sun described the decision as "Megxit." The word is a play on "Brexit" -- a common term for Britain's withdrawal² from the European Union.

英国媒体也不喜这一决定。《每日镜报》称这一声明对女王的“不敬令人震惊”。《太阳报》称这一决定为“梅脱英”。这个词是对Brexit(脱欧)的一种恶搞，Brexit是英国脱欧的简称。

It also raises questions about how the couple will earn a living, who will pay for their security, and what their new positions will involve.

退出王室也引发了一些问题，如这对夫妇的收入来源，谁将为他们的安保买单，以及他们的新职位将涉及哪些内容。

Security and living situation

安保与住所

In their announcement, Harry and Meghan said they plan to divide their time between Britain and North America.

在声明中，哈里和梅根表示，他们计划在英国和北美两地来回居住。

Meghan was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Hollywood. Harry and Meghan spent the last six weeks of 2019 in Canada. Their first official appearance of 2020 was a trip to Canada House in London, home of Canada's diplomatic mission to Britain.

梅根出生于加州洛杉矶，在好莱坞长大。哈里和梅根在加拿大度过了2019年的最后六周。他们在2020年的首次官方亮相是前往伦敦的加拿大之家，那里是加拿大驻英国外交使团的所在地。

They will continue to base themselves at Frogmore Cottage in the grounds of the queen's Windsor Castle while in Britain. The property was recently repaired at a cost of 2.4 million pounds ($3.13 million) by taxpayers³.

在英国期间，他们将继续住在温莎城堡内的弗罗格莫尔别墅。这处别墅最近花了纳税人240万英镑（313万美元）来进行装修。

The couple also made clear that they expect the government to continue to pay their security costs. This is required by the Home Office, which is responsible for security of the royal family. The cost of the security is not publicly available information. But it is estimated to cost hundreds of thousands of British pounds a year.

哈里夫妇还明确表示，他们希望政府继续负责他们的安保费用。这是负责王室安全的内政部的要求。安保费用是非公开信息。但预计每年要花费数十万英镑。

How will they earn a living?

他们如何谋生？

The couple said on their new website that they are seeking financial independence from the royal family's funding, known as the "Sovereign Grant." This is government money that covers the ongoing⁴ costs related to daily life and travel.

哈里夫妇在其新注册的网站表示，正在寻求独立于王室的财政资助，即所谓的“主权拨款”。这是包括支付日常生活和出行费用的政府公款。

The couple said the grant represented about 5 percent of money needed to run their official office. They did not say if they will give up the remaining 95 percent, which comes from Prince Charles' centuries-old private estate.

哈里夫妇称，这笔资金大约是其办公室所需资金的5%。他们没有透露是否会放弃剩下的95%资金，这些资金来自查尔斯王子数百年的私人财产。

The couple's new website, Sussex Royal, does not say exactly how they plan to fund themselves in the future. Last year, it was reported that Harry would be executive producer of a film on mental health for Apple's video streaming service. And royal writer Penny Junor suggested that Meghan, who starred in the television show Suits, might restart her acting⁵ career.

哈里夫妇的新网站Sussex Royal并没有确切透露计划如何在未来自力更生。去年，有报道称，哈里王子将担任苹果视频流媒体服务的一部心理健康电影的执行制片人。王室作家彭妮·朱诺表示，出演电视剧《金装律师》的梅根可能会重启演艺生涯。

The couple has not said they would give up their royal names -- the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. And, their website noted⁶ that other royal family members have kept their titles while earning money in other ways.

哈里夫妇并未表示会放弃王室头衔——苏塞克斯公爵和公爵夫人。他们的网站还指出，其他皇室成员利用各种渠道赚钱的同时，也保留了头衔。

Marriage - and the media

婚姻和媒体

Harry and Meghan married in May 2018 in a ceremony in Windsor Castle. Their marriage was considered at the time to be a sign of a more modern monarchy⁸.

2018年5月，哈里和梅根在温莎城堡举行了婚礼。他们的结合在当时被认为是一个更现代的君主制的标志。

Their son, Archie, was born in May 2019.

去年5月，他们的儿子阿奇小王子出生。

The family's relationship with the media has worsened quickly over time, as they struggled to deal with the pressure, criticism and scrutiny⁹.

随着时间的推移，王室与媒体的关系迅速恶化，他们努力应对外界压力、批评和审查。

Harry described the media's treatment of his wife as "bullying," and likened it to that of his mother before her death. His mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash in France in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi.

哈里称媒体对待妻子梅根的方式“欺人太甚”，与对母亲去世前的做法如出一辙。他的母亲戴安娜王妃1997年在法国被狗仔队追逐时死于车祸。

Harry and Meghan announced they plan to greatly change media access to their official events. They will no longer take part in the traditional "royal rota" system, which is an agreement providing access for royal correspondents.

哈里和梅根宣布，他们计划大幅改变媒体对其官方活动的采访方式。他们将不再参与传统的“royal rota”系统，这是一项为王室记者提供通道的协议。

The royal rota system permits access to their appearances and events by official correspondents. These correspondents take photographs and videos, which they then share with others in the media.

royal rota系统允许官方记者在王室成员露面和活动时进行采访。这些记者拍摄照片和视频，然后与媒体上的其他人分享。

Now the couple said their plan is to speak directly to the public through social media. They plan to deny automatic access to some royal correspondents.

如今哈里夫妇表示，他们的计划是通过社交媒体直接与公众对话。他们打算禁止一些王室记者直接采访。

The change may make them more of a target for paparazzi photographers, who will no longer worry about losing access to official events if they are already excluded.

这一变化使这对夫妇更有可能成为狗仔队的目标，如果他们已经被排除在外，那么狗仔将不再担心失去参加官方活动的机会。

Words in This Story

charity - n. an organization that helps people who are poor, sick, etc.

disregard - n. the act of ignoring something or treating something as unimportant

funding - n. an amount of money that is used for a special purpose

estate - n. all of the things that a person owns

monarchy - n. a country that is ruled by a monarch⁷ (such as a king or queen)

scrutiny - n. the act of carefully examining something especially in a critical way

access - n. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone

correspondent - n. a person whose job is to send news to a newspaper, radio station, or television program often from different places around the world

paparazzi - n. photographers who follows famous people in order to take their pictures and then sells the pictures to newspapers or magazines

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 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。

3 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 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。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 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。

8 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。

9 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。