有魅力的王子 威儿的世界

On the occasion of his 18th birthday, the world was getting a rare look at the man who was born to be the king of England. The shattered boy who marched bravely behind his mother's coffin1 years ago has emerged as thoughtful young man--a thoroughly modern monarch2.

　　With a smile disarmingly3 like Diana's and his father's sense of duty, William has the makings of a thoroughly modern monarch. As befits4 a 21st-century prince, he's being introduced to his future subjects through the media. Although he's still very young and no one knows what challenges he'll face, imagery clearly will have to be a top priority. The birthday pictures released tells the story of a young man equally at home or on the rugby5 field or in front of a computer. He's a leader, but also one of the boys, and seems remarkably comfortable in his own skin. It's a very different image from the stiff and formal portraits of Elizabeth and Charles at the same age.

　　Because he's been sheltered from publicity, William is very much an unknown quantity to most of his future subjects. And he seems to like it that way. At almost every photo opportunity in the past few years, William has appeared at best shy and often deliberately distant. Photographers frequently complained that they would go through many rolls of film just to get a few frames in which William was actually smiling. William is said to have hated the paparazzi6 who emerged from nowhere when he was out with his mother and, as he grew older, he reportedly avoided appearing in public with her. He preferred holidays with his father at Balmoral in Scotland, where the flashbulbs7 could be kept at bay by acres of royal land.

　　William thrived on Eton's legendary playing fields, excelling at rugby, football, swimming and water polo.The birthday pictures show him participating in all these sports with some gusto8,enjoying a rough? and-tumble9 life.But he was more than just a jock. William reportedly took his studies very seriously and earned a respectable number of A's at the academically demanding school.

　　William's success at Eton is very different from his father's experiences as a teenager, and that has helped him develop leadership skills he'll need as king. Charles has said that he was miserable at Gordonstoun,his no-frills10 boarding school in Scotland,and was bullied by classmates.But if Charles was the kid everyone picked on11, William at 18 appears to be the quintessential12 cool guy whom everyone wants to befriend--regardless of his royal status. He was elected to the Eton Society.That entitled him to impose fines on younger boys who broke school rules.It also meant he got to wear a special uniform, including vests of his own design.

　　When William talked about his experiences at Eton and the ever more intense media attention he anticipates in the future, he said, “ I have particularly appreciated being left alone at Eton, which has allowed me to concentrate on my schoolwork and enjoy being with my friends without being followed by cameras. I hope I can enjoy the same freedom at university.”

That doesn't seem likely.At a university,there's a lot more potential than there was at Eton for William to be exposed in a compromising position;girlfriends, parties, even his grades could all be tabloid13 fodder14. Fear of publicity may be one reason why William's first choice for university is reported to be Edinburgh in Scotland rather than Oxford or Cambridge.

　　William refused to discuss his personal life in the birthday interview: “ I like to keep my private life private. There's been a lot of nonsense put out by PR firms,” he said. “ I don't like being exploited in this way, but as I get older, it's increasingly hard to prevent.”

　　He is beginning to understand that his best hope for keeping these intrusions15 at bay is to slowly tame16 the beast that stalks17 him? ? the media. Despite his childhood mistrust of the flashbulbs, he's beginning to find his own way in the spotlight. Nicholas Owen, a correspondent for the British television network ITN, was understandably startled18 when a royal aide approached him at Klosters, the chic19 Swiss ski resort favored by Charles and his sons. The aide wanted to know if William and Harry could watch as Owen and his editor looked over their tape of the most recent photos of the royal family. “ The two young men came over and stood alongside me standing behind the editor,” Owen says. “ They were kidding one another and nudging and joking over their skiing prowess20.” Both boys, but especially William, asked a lot of questions about the mechanics of editing. When he was finished, the editor asked the princes if there were any inaccuracies. “ No, it was great,” William replied. And then he politely thanked them for their time and took off down the slopes. On this day at least, even the cynical journalists were charmed. One new to the prince.




在他18岁生日那一刻，举世看到了这位生来注定为英王的人罕见的侧面。几年前那个跟在母亲棺木后勇敢前行、悲痛欲绝的男孩，如今已成为一个富有思想的年轻人——一位十分现代的君主。

　　面带和戴妃一样能使人消除敌意的微笑，并具有他父亲那样的责任感，威廉绝对具备现代君主的品质。为了符合一位21世纪王子的身份，他正通过媒体被介绍给他未来的臣民。虽然他现在还很年轻，而且无人知晓他将会遇到怎样的挑战，但其形象的塑造显然是优先考虑的事情。那些公开的生日照片讲述了一个年轻人的故事：无论是在橄榄球场，还是坐在电脑旁都一样娴熟自在。他是一位领导者，但也是许许多多男孩子中的一个，而且看上去完全能安然面对自己的处境。这与伊丽莎白和查尔斯18岁时的那些呆板、一本正经的照片截然不同。

　　由于威廉一直避开宣传，他未来的臣民大都对他实在不甚了解。而且他似乎也喜欢这样。在过去几年里几乎每张摄影作品中，威廉都显得十分腼腆，并常常故意表现得很冷淡。摄影师们常抱怨说，为了弄到几张威廉笑的照片不得不用掉好多卷胶片。据说威廉十分痛恨狗仔队，当他和母亲外出时，他们会突然冒出来。等他长大一些后，据说他避免与她在公共场合出现。他宁愿同父亲在苏格兰的巴尔莫勒尔堡一起度假，在那里闪光灯被拒于皇家领地之外。

　　威廉在伊顿闻名的运动场上极为引人注目，在橄榄球、足球、游泳和水球上尤其见长。从生日照片可以看出，他参加所有这些运动项目出于一种爱好，他喜欢一种无序的生活。但他不仅仅只是个运动员，据说威廉对待功课极为认真，在这所要求严格的学校里，相当多的课程都得了A。

　　威廉在伊顿的成功非常不同于他父亲少年时的经历，这有助于他锻炼为将来当国王所需的领导技能。查尔斯曾说他在苏格兰那所普通的寄宿学校戈登斯东的日子过得很不好，常遭到同学的欺负。但如果说查尔斯是处处受人指责的孩子，那么18岁的威廉则是人人都想与之结交的又酷又帅的小伙子——而不是考虑到他的皇族身份。他被选入伊顿公学社团。这使他有资格对那些违反校规的低年级学生处以罚金。而且他还能穿着特殊制服，其中包括他自己设计的背心。

　　当威廉谈论他在伊顿公学的经历及他今后将面对更多的媒体关注时，他说道，“我特别欣赏在伊顿公学时能不受外界打扰，这样我可以更专注于我的功课，尽情享受与朋友在一起的快乐，不被摄影镜头追踪。我希望在大学也能享有同样的自由。”

但那看来不可能。对于威廉来说，在大学，他会有比在伊顿时更多的事情被公之于众：女朋友、晚会，甚至他的分数都会成为小报的素材。据说，威廉的首选学校是苏格兰的爱丁堡大学而不是牛津或剑桥，原因之一或许就是担心惹人注目。

　　威廉在生日会见中拒绝讨论他的个人生活。“我不想将自己的私人生活公开。公共关系部门制造出许多谣言，”他说。“我不喜欢这样被利用，但随着年龄的增长，这一切越来越难以避免。”

　　他开始懂得要想抵挡住这些侵扰，最好的办法是慢慢驯服媒体这头紧逼不放的野兽。尽管他童年时代对聚光灯表现出极大的不信任，但他现在开始在其中找到对付的办法。尼古拉斯?欧文，这位英国ITN电视网的记者着实受到过震撼。当时在瑞士美丽的滑雪胜地克洛斯特斯(这里深受查尔斯和他两个儿子的喜爱)，一位皇家助理和这位记者进行了接触。这位助理想知道，在欧文和他的编辑检查最近拍摄的有关皇室的带子时，两位王子能否观看。“这两位年轻人走过来站在我旁边，就在编辑的身后，”欧文说道。“他们彼此打趣推搡着，拿对方的滑雪技艺寻开心。”两个人，尤其是威廉，问了很多有关编辑技巧的问题。完了之后，编辑问王子们是否有什么不准确之处，威廉回答说，“没有了，很棒。”然后他礼貌地向他们致谢，接着朝坡下滑去。至少这一天，即使最苛刻的记者也会被感动。王子又赢得了一分。



1.coffin [5kCfin]n.棺材，灵柩

2.monarch [5mCnEk] n.君主，国王，最高统治者

3.disarmingly [dis5B:miNli]adv.消除敌意地

4.befit [bi5fit] vt.对…适当，适合于

5.rugby [5rQ^bi] n.英式橄榄球(运动)



6.paparazzo [7pB:p:5rB:ttsR:](复zi)n.(意)专门追逐名人偷拍照片的摄影者(或记者)

7.flashbulb[5fl(((((]n.(摄)闪光泡

8.gusto [] n.兴致勃勃，爱好，热情

9.rough-and-tumble[(((((((]adj.混乱激烈的

10.no- frill(s)[n[u5fril(z)]adj.朴实无华的

11.pick on 对…唠叨指责

12.quintessential[7kwint[5senF[l]adj.完美的，典型的

13.tabloid[5tAblCid]adj.通俗小报的

14.fodder[5fCdE]n.(创作的)素材

15.intrusion[in5tru:VEn]n.打扰

16.tame[teim]vt.驯服，驾驭

17.stalk[5stB:tl]vt.悄悄地追踪

18.startle[5stB:tl]vi.吃惊，惊吓

19.chic[Fi(:)k]adj.时髦的，漂亮的

20.prowess[prau]n.杰出的技艺