英语故事:威廉王子的天作之合

英国王位第二顺位继承人、全球最受瞩目的英国王子威廉，于2011年4月29日，在伦敦迎娶交往8年的女友凯特·米德尔顿。这位准新娘虽出身中产家庭，然而在威廉面前却不乏幽默自信，面对媒体大方得体，与威廉家人关系融洽，难怪能获得英国举国上下一致认同，被认为是威廉的理想新娘。

Flipped
怦然心动

Prince William\'s four-year stay at St. Andrews would draw the interest of the world\'s media. To protect the Prince, an agreement was made banning camera crews and pres except on selected occasion meaning Will, as he was known, could live university life much like any other student.
全球传媒均对威廉王子在圣安德鲁斯（大学）四年生活深感兴趣。为了保护王子，王室与媒体达成协议，规定除了在特定的场合，校内不准有摄影队以及传媒人员出现。这便意味着威尔（他的别名）可以像其他学生一样，过上普通的大学生活。

But, a year into his studie Prince William was finding it hard to settle in his art history course, the same course as his friend Kate Middleton. It\'s said that Kate\'s persuasive character made William stay, and he switched to geography. Late in their first year, the friends moved into a house-share together, but not before William attended a student fashion show, where Kate was revealed in a new light.
但威廉王子读了一年后，觉得难以适应艺术历史学科，其朋友凯特·米德尔顿也在读这一专业。据说是因凯特的说服，才令威廉留下，转读地理。第一学年年尾时，他们搬入共同租住的屋子，但这是威廉出席一场时装表演后的事，那晚的凯特展现出让人刮目相看的一面。

Jules Knight (William\'s Fellow Student): I think that was the moment when everyone realised how beautiful she was. There was this lovely, unassuming girl, who also had a sexy side as well, and she got up there and she flaunted her stuff and looked fantastic.
朱尔斯·奈特（威廉的同学）：我想就是那一刻，大家才发觉她如此美丽。这个可爱、谦逊的女孩也有性感的一面。她走上台，昂首阔步，美艳动人。

Geordie Greig (Editor): All her contemporaries at St. Andrews saw her as the most attractive girl there.
乔迪·格雷格（编辑）：圣安德鲁斯大学与她同辈的学生均视她为校内最美丽的女郎。

By now their friendship was growing closer, and they were getting to know one another, warts and all.
此时，他们的友谊更为密切，他们互相了解，瑕瑜互见。

Stumbled
出师不利

Kate spent her early years in the English county of Berkshire, 60 miles outside London. It was an ordinary childhood amongst genteel villages and rolling fields. Born six months before William, on January the 9th, 1982, Katherine Elizabeth Middleton is the eldest child of Carol and Michael Middleton.
凯特早年住在伯克郡，距离伦敦60英里。其孩提生活平凡，住在上流社会的村落，四周都是起伏不平的广阔土地。凯瑟琳·伊丽莎白·米德尔顿是嘉露跟米高·米德尔顿的大女儿，于1982年1月9日出生，她比威廉大6个月。

Chris Robben (Editor): Kate comes from a very stable middle-class family: her parents run their own business. They both were in the airline business—initially her mom, a stewardess and father, a pilot. She\'s got a younger sister, Pippa, and Jame a younger brother, so it was normal stuff. They\'re really very much like a lot of ordinary, middle-class families. Not, certainly, someone you\'d expect to be marrying into the royal family.
克里斯·罗本（编辑）：凯特来自稳健的中产家庭：父母自己做生意，以前均从事航空业——起初妈妈是空姐，爸爸是飞机师。她有个妹妹叫碧帕，以及一个弟弟叫詹姆斯。一切都很中规中矩，跟典型的中产家庭没什么两样。她不像是一个会嫁入王室的女郎。

It was at his "passing-out parade" at Sandhurst in late 2006 that Kate made her most significant appearance in the presence of the senior royal accompanied by her parents. The occasion, however, did not pass without controversy.
2006年年尾，凯特最为重要的一次露面是在英国陆军军官学校，出席威廉的毕业阅兵典礼；凯特及其父母，在一众王室高层成员面前亮相。然而他们的这次出席也备受争议。

Piers Morgans (Broadcaster & Journalist): The cameras caught Kate\'s mom chewing gum during the Sandhurst parade, and this was a social disaster. You just do not…one does not chew gum at the passing-out parade. Well, I felt quite sorry for her. You know, I don\'t think she probably gave it a moment\'s thought. She\'s probably incredibly nervous. I mean, if you\'re the mother of the potential future Queen of England, and you\'re surrounded by the in-laws-to-be, it\'d be terrifying. A little crafty bit of gum to calm your nerve and the next thing you know everyone\'s going, "Oh, this is a disaster! I mean you can\'t have a gum-chewing mother-in-law." So that was the kind of thing I think you…you buy yourself into as a family. It\'s not just about Kate, it\'s about all her family. They\'re all wedding into this.
皮尔斯·摩根(广播员、新闻工作者)：摄影师拍摄到凯特的妈妈在阅兵时嚼口香糖，这确是社交大忌。在毕业阅兵典礼中，没有人会嚼口香糖。其实，我也挺同情她的。你也明白，我想那时的她也没细想过这事。她很可能非常紧张。我的意思是，若你是潜在未来王后的母亲，而你身边全是准亲家成员，那情形一定令人感到不安的，嚼口香糖能让人平静一些。然而接着就是，人人都觉得这样很无礼，“噢，这太糟糕了！我说的是，你不能有个嚼口香糖的岳母呀。”这就是加入王室的代价。这不止是凯特的事，而是他们一家人的事，因为他们所有人一起嫁入王室。

Poised
泰然自若

So what is it that binds these two together?
那么，是什么令两人结合在一起的呢？

Hannah Sandling (Friend of William & Kate): I think the key to their relationship is independence. They have their own friendship they have their own hobbie they don\'t hang around each other\'s necks and suffocate each other. They\'ve been through so much together: they\'ve been such good friend you know, through university, coming out of university, and I think, because of all of that, it\'s made the bond between them super strong—totally indestructible.
汉娜·山德林（威廉与凯特的朋友）：我觉得，他俩关系的关键是独立。他们有各自的朋友，有各自的嗜好，他们不会苦缠令对方窒息。他们一起经历了很多事情，他们是如此要好的朋友，你也知道，一同经历大学时期，然后毕业。我认为这一切令他们关系坚固，牢不可破。

Geordie Greig: They enjoy the same joke they enjoy the same sort of outdoorsy good fun, and she knows how to make him feel relaxed and that he doesn\'t have to worry about her when they\'re together in public.
乔迪·格雷格：他们享受同一类笑话，享受同一种户外玩乐。凯特懂得如何令他放松。当他俩出现在公众场合，他又不用担心凯特的言行。

Ollie Baines (William\'s Fellow Student): She\'s very calm and very collected, and together they are a very calm and collected couple. You might sort of think, "Isn\'t it very serious that people who met, you know, mid-twenties are that close to one another?" But with those two, it really work because, they, you know, they\'re totally meant for each other.
奥利·贝恩斯（威廉的同学）：她很冷静，泰然自若，所以他们是冷静且泰然自若的一对。你可能会想，“二十来岁才认识的两个人，就如此亲密无间，不会是认真的吧？”但对于他俩，还真的是这样，因为他俩真的是天生一对。

Scenes of Prince William, his brother, Prince Harry, and Kate partying and clubbing, became familiar in ways unthinkable in previous royal generations. But with great strength of character, Kate has always been careful to manage both hers and William\'s public image.
威廉王子跟弟弟哈里以及凯特一起去派对玩乐是常见事，这样的情形是以往历代王室成员难以想象的。但由于凯特个性较强，她总会确保她跟威廉两人均保持良好的公众形象。

Chris Robben:Where Prince William has always been seen as the good boy against Prince Harry the bad boy…actually, a lot of the time when he was at university, you know, he\'d sunk a few pints. The truth i she\'d be the one who\'d be pulling him back a little bit an saying, "You need to calm down a little bit, just in case you\'re caught out."
克里斯·罗本：威廉王子在大众的眼中总是好男孩的形象，而哈里王子则是坏男孩，但其实威廉读大学时，常常会去畅饮一番。事实上，是凯特经常对他加以约束，叫他冷静以免被人捉到做文章。

Geordie Greig: You\'ve never seen her exit a nightclub apart from in the most elegant and supremely poised way, even if it is 3 AM.
乔迪·格雷格：你看到，她离开夜店时，即使是凌晨三点，都永远是优雅得体的。 

Chris Robben: They\'ll be great ambassadors together on a public stage—young, good-looking, intelligent—but they\'ll be great ambassadors for Great Britain, PLC.
克里斯·罗本：他们将会是公众舞台上出色的大使，年轻、迷人、聪明，会是英国出色的大使。

Hilary Alexander (Fashion Director): The country\'s struggling through a recession, you know, economic gloom everywhere you turn—everything\'s doom and gloom—and to have this is just like a rainbow. I think it\'s fabulous! 　
希拉里·亚历山大（时尚总监）：你知道，英国正遭受经济衰退的打击，处处都是经济萧条的景象。所有一切都是灰暗阴沉的样子，而这场婚礼则恰像一道彩虹。我觉得这实在是无与伦比！