英國王室一直受全球矚目，今年9月9日英女王伊麗莎白二世打破她的曾曾祖母維多利亞女王在位63年零216天的紀錄，成為英國歷史上在位時間最長的君主。以女王為代表的王室成員一年到頭出席各種活動，那么，有王室成員在場的時候，有哪些基本的禮儀需要注意呢？
The British Royal Family are busy people. Their packed itineraries of official engagements mean they rarely get time to sit down. And when they're out and about meeting and greeting people there are standards they expect from their humbled guests.
英國王室家族的成員都是大忙人。他們參加官方活動的行程排得滿滿當當，少有坐下來休息的時候。王室成員出面會見來訪者時，有些注意事項希望來賓能夠了解。
These standards are known as royal protocol – a set of customs and rules that must be met when interacting with the monarchy.
這些注意事項也就是王室禮儀——與王室打交道時要遵守的一些習俗和規矩。
Queen Elizabeth II in particular would expect everyone to stand up when she entered a room – even members of her own family.
女王伊麗莎白二世進入房間時，所有人都要起身，王室家族的成員也不例外。
Also, she would not expect you to offer a handshake until she puts out her hand - and then she would only expect it to be shaken lightly.
另外，女王主動伸手時才可與她握手，而且，握手時只需輕輕一握。
To the uninitiated, meeting any royal can be a daunting prospect – there are rules about who can speak first, where to look and what to call them. For example, the Queen would expect to be initially addressed as 'Your Majesty' and thereafter as 'Ma'am'.
對于從未見過王室的人來說，這樣的會面可能會讓人有些忐忑——誰先開口說話，眼睛該往哪兒看，該怎么稱呼王室成員，都是有規矩的。比如，女王希望來賓一開始稱呼她“女王陛下”，之后可以稱呼為“夫人”。
Most of the formalities date back hundreds of years. Dr Kate Williams, a historian at London's Royal Holloway University, told the BBC: "From medieval times, monarchs were divinely appointed to rule by God, so they were kind of seen as gods." Even now, she says "you don't kiss them, you don't touch them, you bow – over and over again."
多數禮節都可以追溯到幾百年前。倫敦大學皇家霍洛威學院的歷史學家凱特?威廉姆斯博士在接受BBC采訪時說：“從中世紀開始，王室是受了上帝的神圣指派來統治（世界）的，因此，他們從某種程度上就被看做上帝。”就算到現在，她說“你不能親吻他們，你不能觸摸他們，你只能鞠躬，一次又一次給他們鞠躬。”
Of course royalty only expects bowing from the men and then only a bow from the shoulders or a bob from the neck. And they'd be looking to the women to curtsy – but nothing too dramatic – a little bob is quite enough!
當然了，需要向王室行鞠躬禮的只是男士，而且只需微微彎腰或者點頭即可。女士們自然是要行屈膝禮的，不過不需要大費周章，稍稍彎下膝蓋就可以了。
But what happens if you breach protocol and break the rules? Apparently nothing. The official website of The British Monarchy states: "There are no obligatory codes of behaviour when meeting The Queen or a member of the Royal Family, but many people wish to observe the traditional forms." Former BBC royal correspondent, Jennie Bond, says "all this thing about not speaking to the Queen unless you're spoken to, I don't believe that. I always used to tell her jokes!" But when The Queen finally gets to meet you, what joke would you tell her? She's probably heard them all before.
如果你沒有遵守禮節或者壞了規矩，會怎么樣呢？當然也不會怎么樣。英國君主官網是這樣說的：“與女王或王室家族成員會面時并沒有必須遵守的行為準則，只是大家都愿意遵守傳統慣例。”前BBC王室通訊員珍妮?邦德表示“那些所謂的如果女王不跟你說話，就不能主動與女王說話的規矩，我根本不相信。我原來老給她講笑話！”不過，真的跟女王見面時，你會跟她講什么笑話呢？她之前可能已經聽過不少了。
詞匯表
official engagements 官方活動
humbled 謙卑的
protocol 禮儀
the monarchy 王室，君主
uninitiated 生手，沒有經驗的
formalities 禮節
bow 鞠躬
curtsy 屈膝禮
breach 違反
obligatory 必須的，強制性的
