正文
假如你是英女王,你可以······
Being Queen Elizabeth II opens you up to certain privileges that the rest of us can only dream of. Not only does she get to live in Buckingham Palace, milling between 700 odd rooms on a daily basis, but there are a few other actions that the Queen and only the Queen can pull off.
如果你是伊丽莎白女王二世,你将拥有某些其他人只能想象的特权。女王不仅坐拥白金汉宫,每天能在700多个房间中自由活动,还有其他一些有且只有女王才可以做的事情。
Here are the things that the Queen can do that you can’t, not that she's showing off or anything:
以下事情只有女王才能做,你我平民皆无权。而且这也并非出于炫耀或任何别的原因哦。
·If you're the Queen of England acquiring a driving license like every other British 17-year-old is not necessary. The Queen is the only person in Britain who can drive without a licence. Because they are issued in the Queen's name, it would be unnecessary for her to give herself a license. But that doesn't mean she can't drive – Elizabeth operated a first-aid truck for the Women’s Auxillary Territorial Service during WWII.
如果你是英格兰女王的话,那么像英国别的17岁少年一样去考驾照这种事就免啦!女王是全英国境内唯一一位不用驾照也能开车的人。因为驾照就是以女王名义发布的,让她再给自己发个驾照很没有必要。但这并不意味着她不会开车——伊丽莎白女王曾在二战期间为英国本土军女子辅助服务团(Women's Auxillary Territorial Service)驾驶过急救车。
·As well as not having to have a licence, she also does not have to bother with a registration plate for her car.
不仅不需要持有驾照,女王也免了申请车牌的麻烦。
·The Queen can travel abroad without any travel documents or a passport, since these are issued in her own name. This is something that even other members of the Royal Family can't get away with, so passports at the ready Charles et al.
女王不用旅行文件和护照就能出国,因为这些文件均是以她的名义发布的。这项特权除了女王别的皇室成员都不能享受,所以查尔斯王子等人都需要护照。
·Her majesty is entitled to two birthdays per year. While her actual proper legit birthday is on 21 April, her 'official' Queen's birthday is celebrated on a Saturday in June.
女王每年都有两个生日。她真正的出生日期是4月21日,而她‘官方’的生日则是在六月的某个周日庆祝。
·Most of us have to walk outside to draw cash but unlike the average citizen, the Queen has her own private cash machine installed in the basement of Buckingham Palace, supplied by exclusive fancy bank Coutts.
我们绝大多数都得出门才能取钱,但和我们不同的是,女王在白金汉宫的地下室里就装了她私人的自动提款机,由苏格兰皇家顾资银行(Coutts)提供。
·The Queen does not have to pay taxes, unlike the rest of us peasants. However, she has been voluntarily paying tax since 1992 because she’s nice like that.
女王也不用向我们这些平民一样纳税。不过因为她觉得纳税这件事挺好的,自1992以来一直自愿坚持交税。
·The Queen holds the ability to fire the entire Australian government since she is technically the Head of State in Australia.
女王有权开除澳大利亚所有政府工作人员,因为严格意义上来说,她是澳大利亚的首脑。
·We can be arrested; Queen Elizabeth II cannot as she is immune from prosecution. Because the courts are under the power of the Sovereign, i.e the Queen, she is unable to prosecute herself because that would be ridiculous.
我们可能被捕,但伊丽莎白女王拥有免予起诉权,她无法被捕。因为法院权力受制 于君主,即女王,所以要让她来起诉自己无疑是件不可能的荒唐事。
· Also, she cannot be compelled to give evidence in court since all prosecutions are carried out in the name of the Sovereign.
此外,也无人能强迫她在法庭上提供证据,因为所有的起诉都是以君主之名进行的。
· The Queen and members of the Royal Family are exempt from Freedom of Information requests, meaning you can't request to find out all her secrets – although earlier this year Prince Charles 'spider letters' were revealed to the public after a court ruling.
女王和别的皇室家庭成员免于信息自由法令(Freedom of Information)的各项要求,这意味着你不能要求挖掘女王的全部秘密——虽然今年早些时候查尔斯王子的‘蜘蛛信件’在法庭判决后得以公开。
Vocabulary
auxillary:辅助的
Territorial:[英国英语](保卫)本土的
et al:以及其他人
legit:真正的
immune: 豁免的
prosecute:起诉