疫情下“英國王室”也成了電商：女王想通過賣天價襪子來填補財政損失
Not even the Queen has escaped the financial fallout from coronavirus. But now Her Majesty is hoping to plug a £64 million hole in the Royal finances… by flogging bed socks and hot-water bottles online.
即使是英國女王也未能逃脫新冠肺炎而導致的經濟後果。但現在女王陛下希望通過在網上出售襪子和熱水瓶，來填補皇室6400萬英鎊的財政損失。
The new items on offer at the Royal Collection store come with hefty price tags, however, with the socks priced at £69 a pair.
然而，皇家收藏商店所出售的新產品標價很高，襪子的價格是69英鎊一雙。
The website gushes: ‘Lovingly crafted and 100 per cent cashmere, these luxurious bedtime socks are sumptuously soft and the perfect present.’
該網站還宣稱：“這些華麗的襪子做工精美，100%山羊絨質地，非常柔軟，是送禮的最佳選擇。”
And just in case the cable-knit socks, available in silver and ‘natural’ colours, are not warming enough, there are matching hot-water bottle covers, a snip at £115 – although that does include the rubber bottle itself.
如果銀色和“自然”色的扭繩花紋襪子不夠保暖，還有配套的熱水瓶套，售價115英鎊，不過這也包括了橡膠水瓶本身。
In contrast, the George at Asda version is just £5.
相比之下，英國大牌喬治的同款產品只需要5英鎊。
With Royal palaces closed to visitors because of the pandemic, the Royal Collection’s online shop is the only way it can sell souvenirs – although those looking for cheap trinkets are likely to baulk at the eye-watering prices.
皇家宮殿因疫情而對遊客關閉，皇家網上商店是出售紀念品的唯一途徑——儘管那些想要購買廉價小飾品的人可能會因高昂的價格望而卻步。
For instance, the Buckingham Palace Candle, noted for its ‘refreshing scent of delicate jasmine’ and whose design is said to be ‘inspired by the geometric planting of gardens of the French renaissance’, costs £115.
例如，白金漢宮的蠟燭，以其“清爽的茉莉花香”而聞名，據說其設計“靈感來自法國文藝復興時期花園的呈幾何分佈的種植”，售價115英鎊
Among the cheaper items are a £12.95 Buckingham Palace ‘dog bandana’, and a timely range of face masks priced £9.95. Available in yellow, pink or blue, they are printed with a design inspired by a partridge eye pattern that features on an 18th Century porcelain collection amassed mostly by the extravagant George IV.
其中較便宜的商品有一件價值12.95英鎊的白金漢宮“小狗圍巾”，以及一系列售價9.95英鎊的口罩。有黃色、粉色或藍色可選，印花的設計靈感來自奢侈的喬治四世（George IV）收藏於18世紀的瓷器上的鷓鴣眼圖案。
The masks were unveiled last November, just days after the Queen was pictured in a face covering for the first time, when she visited the grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey to mark the centenary of his burial.
去年11月，女王在威斯敏斯特教堂參觀一位無名戰士的墳墓，紀念他安葬一百週年時，首次被拍到她戴口罩的照片。幾天後，這款口罩便開始出售。
Sales will boost the coffers of The Royal Collection Trust, the charity responsible for maintaining the artwork and furniture the Queen holds in trust for her heirs and the nation.
這些商品的銷量將增加皇家收藏信託基金會（Royal Collection Trust）的資金，該基金會負責維護女王爲了其繼承人和國家以信託形式持有的藝術品和傢俱。
Its finances have been severely hit by the pandemic, with its latest annual report predicting a devastating £64 million drop in income by the end of the financial year.
該公司的財務狀況受到疫情的嚴重打擊，其最新年度報告預測，到本財政年度結束時，公司的收入將大幅減少6400萬英鎊。
It has secured an emergency loan of £22 million from Royal bankers Coutts but has warned that ‘significant’ cuts will be needed to balance the books.
它已經從皇家銀行家庫茨那裏獲得了2200萬英鎊的緊急貸款，但被警告其需要大幅削減開支，以平衡賬目。
