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39.

Granny formally approved the marriage in March 2018.

By royal decree.

Meanwhile, Meg and I were already a growing family. We brought home a new puppy—a

sibling¹ for little Guy. He’d been needing one, poor thing. So when a friend in Norfolk told me his

black Labrador had a litter, and offered me a gorgeous amber-eyed female, I couldn’t say no.

Meg and I named her Pula. The Setswana word for rain.

And good fortune.

Many mornings I’d wake to find myself surrounded by beings I loved, who loved me, and

depended on me, and I thought I simply had no right to this much good fortune. Work challenges

aside, this was happiness. Life was good.

And following along a predestined track, seemingly. The decree about the wedding coincided

uncannily with the airing of Meg’s farewell season of Suits, in which her character, Rachel, was

also preparing to get married. Art and life, imitating each other.

Decent of Suits, I thought, marrying Meg off the show, instead of pushing her down a lift shaft².

There were enough people in real life trying to do that.

That spring, however, the press was quieter. Keener about breaking news of wedding details

than inventing new libels. Each day there was another “world exclusive” about the flowers, the

music, the food, the cake. No detail too small, not even the Portaloos. It was reported that we’d be

providing the poshest Portaloos on earth — porcelain³ basins, gold- plated seats — after being

inspired by the ones at Pippa Middleton’s wedding. In reality, we didn’t notice anything different

about how or where people went pee or poo at Pippa’s, and we had nothing to do with choosing

the Portaloos for ours. But we sincerely hoped that everyone would be able to do their thing in

comfort and peace.

Above all, we hoped the royal correspondents would continue to write about poo instead of

trying to stir it up.

So when the Palace encouraged us to feed more wedding details to those correspondents,

known as the Royal Rota, we obeyed. At the same time, I told the Palace that on the Big Day, the

happiest day of our lives, I didn’t want to see one single royal correspondent inside that chapel⁴,

unless Murdoch himself apologized for phone hacking⁵.

The Palace scoffed⁶. It would be all-out war, the courtiers warned, to bar the Royal Rota from

the wedding.

Then let’s go to war.

I’d had it with the Royal Rota, both the individuals and the system, which was more outdated⁷

than the horse and cart. It had been devised some forty years earlier, to give British print and

broadcast reporters first crack at the Royal Family, and it stank⁸ to high heaven. It discouraged fair

competition, engendered⁹ cronyism¹⁰, encouraged a small mob of hacks¹¹ to feel entitled.

After weeks of wrangling¹², it was agreed: The Royal Rota wouldn’t be allowed in the chapel,

but they could gather outside.

A small win, which I hugely celebrated¹³.

1 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

2 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

3 porcelain   

n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的

参考例句：

• These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
• The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。

4 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

5 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

6 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

7 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

8 stank   

n. (英)坝，堰，池塘 动词stink的过去式

参考例句：

• Her breath stank of garlic. 她嘴里有股大蒜味。
• The place stank of decayed fish. 那地方有烂鱼的臭味。

9 engendered   

v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The issue engendered controversy. 这个问题引起了争论。
• The meeting engendered several quarrels. 这次会议发生了几次争吵。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

11 hacks   

黑客

参考例句：

• But there are hacks who take advantage of people like Teddy. 但有些无赖会占类似泰迪的人的便宜。 来自电影对白
• I want those two hacks back here, right now. 我要那两个雇工回到这儿，现在就回。 来自互联网

12 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

13 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。