英皇后人選引熱議 卡梅倫力挺卡米拉
The voters might not agree with him, but David Cameron yesterday voiced his support for the Duchess of Cornwall to become Queen. In a highly unusual intervention, the Prime Minister described himself as a ‘big fan’ of Camilla.
威廉王子訂婚的消息被媒體炒得沸沸揚揚，而未來英國皇后的人選再一次被人們拿來當成茶餘飯後的話題。會是飽受爭議的卡米拉？還是威廉的未婚妻凱特？我們不得而知。然而，英現任首相卡梅倫把他的一票投給了查爾斯的老婆--卡米拉。
He said he believes the public is warming to Prince Charles’s second wife, despite signs that voters would prefer the monarchy to miss a generation and pass directly from the Queen to Prince William. Polls show that the idea of Queen Camilla is less popular now than when she married into the Royal Family five years ago. Less than a third of the public believe Charles should become King, in a sign that they want the monarchy to skip a generation and revitalise itself.
卡梅倫承認公衆在選擇心目中的王后時，心中的天枰會向威廉傾斜、而非他的老爸查爾斯。作爲威廉的繼母、查爾斯的第二任老婆，卡米拉從正式“走馬上任”開始，就面臨了諸多的非議。不管卡米拉是否願意公衆將她與逝去的戴安娜王妃做對比，卡米拉如今不得不應付一個“新的對手”--那就是威廉的未婚妻凱特。調查顯示，只有不到30%的民衆認爲查爾斯會繼承王位，更多的英國人覺得王位的繼承會“越過”查爾斯直接落入他的兒子威廉的頭上。
Asked specifically whether he would be ‘up for Queen Camilla’, the Prime Minister told Sky News: ‘I’m a big Camilla fan. ‘I think the country is getting to know her and getting to see that she is a very warm-hearted person with a big sense of humour and a big heart.’
首相卡梅倫對此卻不避諱，他說：“我是卡米拉忠實的粉絲。可米拉有一顆善良的心，她也十分幽默，很吸引人。”
It is very unusual for a sitting Prime Minister to make such an emphatic contribution to such a sensitive constitutional debate, which still inspires high emotion among supporters of the late Princess Diana. Buckingham Palace aides remain acutely aware of national opinion on Diana and on Camilla’s role in the very public break-up of her husband’s first marriage.
現任首相卡梅倫的這番言論讓媒體“大呼過癮”，迄今爲止，沒有任何一個現任首相對這個敏感問題發表如此個性化、主觀的個人見解。據悉，白金漢宮副手們還是十分關注查爾斯與戴安娜離婚後民衆對此的看法。
Vocabulary：
aide n. 助手；副官；侍從武官
