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Who needs the royals?
谁需要王室？
TO HEAR PUNDITS TALK ABOUT THE ROYALS THIS SPRING,
今年春天，听专家们谈论王室时，即便你认为“王室”就像是
you’d be excused for thinking “The Royal Family” is a prime time soap opera,
一部黄金档肥皂剧，一部观众们痴迷于剧情、剧中的新角色
with viewers obsessing over new characters, story lines and how it’s doing in the ratings.
以及该剧的收视率表现的肥皂剧也情有可原。
Bets were placed on what Prince William and Kate Middleton’s new baby would be named,
民众纷纷就威廉王子和凯特·米德尔顿宝宝的名字下起注来，
while commentators eagerly discussed whether the new character of Meghan Markle
评论人士也急切地讨论着梅根·马克尔这个新人
would manage to “save” the royal family by marrying Prince Harry.
嫁给哈里王子后是否能够“拯救”王室。
The answer to all this for most people around the world is simply: Who cares?
对于世界上大多数人而言，这个问题的答案都很简单：无所谓。
The way Britain celebrated Harry and Meghan’s wedding was a curious reminder
英国人庆祝哈里和梅根婚礼的方式颇有意思地让人想起，
that the monarchy is rarely evaluated in terms of its actual purpose,
人们很少用王室的实际用途——
which is to provide Britain with an effective head of state.
给英国提供一个有效的国家首脑机构——来衡量王室。
Few pundits seem sure of what that role entails or even why it’s needed,
似乎很少有专家明确知道这个角色意味着什么，他们甚至连英国为什么需要这个角色都不确定，
because in Britain, unlike the U.S., the head of state’s role is ceremonial rather than political.
因为在英国，不像在美国，国家首脑是一种仪式性而非政治性的角色。
And so when a royal wedding happens—Will and Kate’s reportedly cost $34 million, paid for by British taxpayers—
所以，王室举行婚礼时——据报道，威廉和凯特的婚礼花了3400万美元，这笔支出最终将由英国的纳税人支付——
the debate usually hinges on two questions: popularity and cost.
有关婚礼的辩论通常会围绕两个问题展开：婚礼的受欢迎程度和婚礼的费用。
On the first, we’ve seen a sea change in public perception.
首先，我们看到，公众观念已经发生了巨大的变化。
Twenty years ago, the monarchy was seen as rich, expensive and out of touch—
二十年前，王室在大家眼里还是富有、奢侈、可望而不可即这样一种形象——
particularly during the post-Diana crisis of public confidence,
尤其是在戴安娜王妃去世后，公众信心出现了危机的那段时间，
when Queen Elizabeth’s apparently cold reaction to her death was met with widespread anger.
当时，伊丽莎白女王对王妃的离世表现出的冷淡引起了广泛的民愤。
In response, the royal family invested enormous amounts of time and taxpayers’ money to rewrite the script.
因此，王室一边将大量的时间和纳税人的钱都投入到了扭转局势上，
They put on glitzy campaigns around the 2011 royal wedding and the 2012 Golden Jubilee,
将2011年的皇室婚礼和2012年的金禧庆典打造地十分夺目，
and stage-managed announcements around the birth of Kate and William’s children—
还精心策划了凯特和威廉王子得子的公告，
while at the same time playing hardball with the media and demanding official secrecy and control over their public image.
一边又对媒体采取强硬态度，要求他们在官方为王室保密并维护王室的公众形象。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
