The Guardian view on the royal family: harried towards reform

The Windsors are not the only unhappy family in Britain, but they are the only one that is supposed to reflect the nation

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These are brutal reputational days for the House of Windsor, and they are potentially threatening for the constitutional monarchy of Britain’s increasingly disunited kingdom too. Prince Harry’s memoir, due for publication on Tuesday, is already the most discussed – though not yet the most widely bought or read – book of 2023. It expands the assault, in frequently wounding detail, that was launched two years ago and is being continued in this week’s TV interviews.

▲ the Windsors 温莎家族：可用「the+姓氏s 」形容「某某一家/某某家族」，如the Simpsons就是「辛普森一家」；

▲ House of Winsor 温莎家族：「the House of+姓氏」指「某某名门望族」，普通家族一般不称为House。1917年，温莎家族成为英国的统治家族，如今的英国王室姓氏正是Windsor；

▲ constitutional monarchy n. 君主立宪制：其中constitutional「宪法的」来自constitution「宪法」，monarchy为「君主制」；

▲ memoir n. （名人）回忆录：来自法语，读音为/'memwɑː/；

▲ launch an assault/attack 发起抨击。

In the court of public opinion, the monarchy has survived the Sussexes’ campaign thus far. Polling suggests the institution retains majority support and that more disapprove of Prince Harry’s campaign than sympathise with it. Republicanism is not surging. But this is an institution, a system and a culture crying out for some new thinking and reform. Only a fool would be complacent.

The Windsors are not the only unhappy family in modern Britain. But they are the only one required to embody the nation as a whole. They are holding up a bleak mirror to the nation’s and the world’s gaze, from which no one emerges with credit. It reflects badly on Britain’s institutions, from the monarchy to the media, and we all know it.

▲ the monarch：monarch指「君主」，前加定冠词the可以指「君主及王室成员」；

▲ Duke of Sussex 萨塞克斯公爵：哈里王子的爵位，因此文中的the Sussexes就是指「哈里一家」；

▲ polling n. 民意调查： 可用于了解public opinion「民意、舆论」，例如可调查民众对于某事的态度是反对（disapprove of sth.）还是支持（sympathise with sth.）；

▲ republicanism n. 共和主义：指通过创建共和国来治理社会或国家，认为人民天生享有人民主权，不是君主的附属品；

▲ 实用搭配：

cry out for sth. 迫切需要某事

be required to do sth. 被要求做某事

under the gaze of sb. 在某人的注视下

reflect badly on/upon sb. 给某人带来（坏）印象

There is plenty of blame to go round. Prince Harry’s complaints are always indignant, even though their focus ebbs and flows. This week he appeared to deny his earlier accusations of royal family racism. There is, though, little point in taking sides in the family’s quarrels. Newspapers should be particularly cautious about taking a one-sided approach when the press has so often played such a destructive role in past royal stories.

Britain has worse problems than the monarchy. But the danger to the Windsors exists. It is real and it is growing. It comes at a transitional time for the monarchy, as our oldest ever new monarch prepares for a coronation that, at least in theory, ought to celebrate and help to unify the nation. That feels like an ambition too far, right now. Prince Harry’s campaign has renewed the relevance of Walter Bagehot’s famous warning about the dangers of letting daylight in upon magic.

▲ 描述指责：blame「指责」、complaint「抱怨」、accusation「控诉」、indignant「愤愤不平的」；

▲ ebb and flow：做动词时，ebb表示「（潮）退」、flow表示「（潮）涨」，所以原文的ebbs and flows就是「（事件）起起伏伏」。这两个词做名词时构成一个常用搭配the ebb and flow「涨落、起伏、盛衰」；

▲ take a... approach 采取……方法；

▲ coronation n. 加冕仪式：与crown「王冠」是同源词，都来自拉丁语corona「王冠」。corona也被引入到英语，意思是「日冕」，因此形似日冕的coronavirus就被称为「冠状病毒」；

▲ Walter Bagehot 沃尔特·白芝浩：英国散文家、社会学家、经济学家，《经济学人》的第一任主编，如今《经济学人》的英国政治专栏就以Bagehot命名。

The clearest solution would be the republican settlement we ultimately favour. In the meantime, however, an enormous chance is being missed to reshape Britain’s constitutional monarchy for the post-Elizabeth age. There is responsibility to share here too. King Charles and his inward-looking circle deserve some of it. The danger is that Britain’s 21st-century monarchy is being defined ad hoc by an elite consisting of a palace clique and an overly deferential governing culture.

▲ inward-looking adj. 只关注自身的；

▲ ad hoc adj./adv. 特地地、临时安排地：The group was constituted ad hoc. 小组是特别组建的。

▲ 表示不同人群：elite「精英阶层」、circle「圈子」、clique「派系」；

Instead of wallowing in royal gossip or drooling over the supposed timelessness of coronation rituals, Britain needs to decide how a system of constitutional monarchy that retains public support can be made better and reformed. The size of the royal family should be reduced, its titles reined in, some of its palaces sold off, the honours system recast, the coronation rethought and the monarch’s role as head of any state other than the United Kingdom ended. Harry Windsor should be left to live his new life.

Civil society has failed to face these issues. There has been no parliamentary and scarcely any other civic examination of the modern role, powers and appropriate cost of the monarch and the royal family. Rare attempts to do so have instead been stamped on. But it is not too late to do better.

▲ the honours system 英国荣誉制度：旨在奖励为英国做出过贡献的人士。获荣誉的人员名单由首相向英国君主推荐，然后由君主授予荣誉，很多已有荣誉勋章都是历来的君主设立的；

▲ 实用搭配：

wallow in sth. 沉湎于某事

drool over sth. 痴迷于某事

rein in sth. 控制某事

sell sth. off 出售某物

stamp on sth. 镇压某事 

注：资料来源于三言两语杂货社，由栀昂同学整理