Diana & the Queen|戴安娜与女王

On the morning of August 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a Paris car accident when she and her lover were trying to escape a crowd of paparazzi1.
　　The Queen was stunned at the tragic news when she was awakened in the early hours of the morning. While others in the royal family had long since given up on Diana, Elizabeth had held some fondness and sympathy for her daughter-in-law. She saw Diana's death as a terrible waste.
　　Crowds surged2 through the streets of London mourning the Princess. It was easy for people to think of Diana only as a princess, someone totally unlike the rest of us. But within the royal family she was an all-too human relative. She doted3 on her sons, William and Harry. She loved and fought with Prince Charles. And she had a complicated4 relationship with the Queen, her mother-in-law. She viewed the Queen as a mom and an old woman who was out to get her.
　　Diana's marriage had not been arranged, as she said, “It was Charles and I who decided on the marriage. Not the Queen. Us. No one else.” But without the Queen's nod, no proposal5 would have been made. However, the Prince was worried. “I'm terrified sometimes of making a promise and then perhaps living to regret it,” he said. When the question came, it was a question itself— “If I were to ask, what do you think you might say?” Giggling6, Diana replied, “Yeah, okay.” Charles then telephoned his mother with the news.
　　The engagement was announced on February 24, 1981, and Diana soon moved into Buckingham Palace. The Queen believed her future daughter-in-law knew what was expected of her, “I trust that Diana will find living here less of a burden than is expected.”
　　In fact Diana had no idea of what to expect — and from the beginning she found royal life an extraordinary burden. She swam most mornings in the Palace pool, made herself busy with wedding plans, and took dance and exercise classes. The rest of time she simply sat around, bored and irritable7.
　　Pent-up8 and lonely, Diana began making herself ill in these early months, the first signs of bulimia9. Several times a day, she visited the kitchen, filling a bowl with corn flakes and fruit, adding sugar and soaking it all in cream. Afterward she would go to the bathroom and make herself sick. Her mood became changeable, and Charles drew much of her fire. Why, she asked, was he not spending more time with her?
　　The Queen contributed10 Diana's behavior to a bad case of “nerves”, concluding that she needed time to settle in. Left to struggle through, Diana did so, barely. After one particularly difficult time in June 1981, when the Prince was traveling, she broke down. Following Prince Andrew's 21st birthday party, she got into her car at 5:30 a.m. and drove from London to her family home, over an hour away. She poured out her heart to her father — she was calling off the engagement. It was probably just the pressure, advised her father, things would get easier once she was married.
　　By Sunday night Diana was back in Buckingham Palace, acting as if nothing had happened.
　　Most brides greatly enjoy themselves in the first weeks of marriage. Instead, during her honeymoon trip in the Mediterranean, Diana became violently ill with bulimia. She had big fights now and then with Charles. They had to go back. The Prince sent for a doctor, the first of many who would try to help.
　　“All the analysts11 and psychiatrists12 you could ever dream of came plodding13 in to sort me out.” Diana recalled.
　　The Queen seemed to have a natural sympathy for Diana. She was understanding of Diana's difficulties. For a time Diana saw the Queen's support as a source of great comfort. “I have the best mother-in-law in the world,” she once said.
　　But the Queen's kindness could not bridge the distance between Diana and Charles. Diana was just into her 20s, with zero experience in romance. Charles had several significant love affairs behind him. Diana began calling at Buckingham Palace seeking guidance14 from her mother-in-law and usually left in a lot better mood. At first, the Queen was patient of these unexpected visits. In time, though, Elizabeth came to fear the meetings, because Diana often “cried nonstop.”
　　The June 1992 publication of the bestseller Diana, Her True Story came as a shock to the Queen. It painted a picture of a cold royal family. Although she was not quoted directly, it was clear Diana helped with the book. The Queen knew well how unhappy her daughter-in-law was, but never imagined Diana would do such a thing. In most families, this behavior would have meant the immediate end of the marriage, but the Queen ordered a six-month cooling-off period. Charles agreed. So did Diana.
　　Yet as the Princess increasingly went her own way—once she questioned on TV if Charles had the moral15 character to be king—her marriage came to an end. Diana and Charles were divorced16 in 1996, after having separated for about four years. Less than a year later, she was dead.
　　Through all of this, Diana brought to the public an attracting image17 of beauty and love. She had a real sympathy for the ill and troubled. She could kneel to comfort a sick child and look as if she meant it. That's why the public never stopped adoring18 her.
　　Elizabeth also saw the good that Diana could do for the monarchy19. Yet Diana was the one person the Queen never learned to handle. She reacted badly to criticism—any blame by the Queen was taken as an example of the whole family's attack on her. Neither patience nor the silent displeasure Elizabeth had used with withering20 power made any impression on Diana. In the end, not knowing it, the Queen allowed Diana to run out of control. The Princess's psychological21 problems, and the Queen's strict propriety22, finally ended their relationship.
　　Marrying into the House of Windsor today is certainly no fairy tale. Looking back on her children's broken marriages (Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew have all gone through divorce), the Queen would come to wonder if she had failed in her duty as a mother. Or, as she once asked, “Where did we go wrong?”

1997年8月31日晨，威尔士王妃黛安娜在巴黎香消玉殒。当时王妃和她的情人试图避开狗仔队的追逐，结果发生车祸。
　    清早就被叫醒的女王被这个噩耗惊呆了。皇室其他成员早已对黛安娜绝望，她却一直疼爱和同情这个儿媳。黛安娜的死在女王看来是个极大的损失。
    　人们涌上伦敦街头悼念王妃，在他们眼里，黛安娜就是王妃，一个和我们完全不同的人。但是在皇室这个家族里，她与普通人并无二致。她宠爱两个儿子威廉和哈利；她爱查尔斯王子，也和他争吵打闹过。她和女王婆婆的关系也一言难尽。有时她和女王亲如母女，有时女王又是个和她作对的老太太。
    　黛安娜的婚姻并非包办，她自己也声明：“是查尔斯和我做的决定，就我们俩，不关女王和其他人的事。”不过，没有女王的首肯，查尔斯是不会求婚的。但查尔斯颇多顾虑：“
有时我害怕作出承诺，害怕为这承诺抱憾终生。”查尔斯求婚问的问题本身就有疑问——“如果我问你愿不愿意嫁给我，你会怎么说？”黛安娜咯咯地笑道：“好啊，可以。”于是查尔斯打电话告诉了他母亲。
    　他们于1981年2月24日宣布订婚，不久黛安娜搬进了白金汉宫。女王确信她未来的儿媳清楚自己应扮演的角色：“我相信黛安娜会发现在这里生活并不像人们想象的那么压抑。”
    　而事实上黛安娜却不知道自己的角色。一开始她就无法挑起皇室生活的重负。大多数时候，上午她在宫里的游泳池游泳，忙着为婚礼做准备，然后参加健身舞蹈班。其他时间她只是闲坐着，百无聊赖、心烦意乱。
    　最初几个月的沉闷和孤独，黛安娜出现了暴饮暴食的症状：一天要去厨房几次，装满一碗玉米片和水果，加上白糖，再把整整一碗东西拌上奶油，吃完再去浴室呕吐出来。她的情绪变化无常，而查尔斯成了冤大头。她问查尔斯：为什么不多陪陪她？
    　女王认为黛安娜的表现不过是严重的“神经紧张”，需要一段时间适应适应。孤军奋战的黛安娜勉强支撑着。1981年6月，当时王子出门在外，黛安娜度过了一段非常艰难的时期之后，她终于撑不住了。在出席安德鲁王子21岁生日聚会后，她清晨5点半驱车一个多小时从伦敦回到娘家，向父亲倾吐了心事——她想取消婚约。父亲劝说也许她压力太大，结婚后就好了。
    　星期天晚上黛安娜返回白金汉宫，装作什么事也没有发生过。
    　新婚的最初几个星期新娘们大都开开心心，而黛安娜在地中海的蜜月旅行中却犯了严重的暴食症。她不时地和王子大吵大闹, 结果他们只好中途返回。王子请来了医生，他是尽心尽力的第一位。
　　黛安娜回忆说：“乱七八糟的精神病分析专家来了一拨又一拨，就想刨出我的病根，没完没了。”
        女王似乎对黛安娜有天生的同情，她理解黛安娜的艰难，她的支持一度带给黛安娜极大的安慰。黛安娜曾告诉别人：“我有世界上最好的婆婆”。
    　然而女王的好意却难以弥合黛安娜和查尔斯之间的隔阂。黛安娜不过二十出头，毫无感情经验，而查尔斯已有好几次影响深远的情史。她开始去白金汉宫从婆婆那儿寻求指导，离开的时候心情通常好多了。开始女王对黛安娜不定期的造访很有耐心，可是不久，伊丽莎白越来越怕见到她，因为黛安娜常常“哭个不停”。
   　 1992年6月，畅销书《黛安娜 ——真实的故事》给了女王当头一棒。这本书描绘了一幅冷漠的皇室家族的众生相，虽然书中并没有直接引用黛安娜的话，但此书显然有黛安娜的参与。女王深知她的儿媳是多么地不开心，可做梦也没想到她会这么做。对多数家庭来说，这一行为意味着婚姻的突然死亡，不过女王要求他们冷处理半年。查尔斯同意了，黛安娜也没有异议。
    　不过王妃独来独往日甚一日，有一次还在电视上质疑查尔斯是否具备当国王的道德素养，她的婚姻也因此划上了句号。黛安娜和查尔斯分居四年后于1996年离婚。而事隔不到一年，她便诀别人间。
　　一直以来，黛安娜在公众眼里都是美和爱的化身。对病困者表示真切的同情，她也会跪下来安慰病中的孩子，好像她心底也这么想——因此她一直受到公众的崇敬。
　　女王也清楚黛安娜的这些举动对王室的价值，然而女王却一直未能驾驭这匹马。戴安娜对批评非常地敏感，女王的任何责备都被视为整个王室联合起来对付她。不论是伊丽莎白的耐心还是她不悦时惯有的具有威慑力的沉默对戴安娜都丝毫不起作用。终于，不知不觉中女王让戴安娜脱缰而去。王妃的心理障碍，女王的正统观念，最终终结了她们的母女之情。
    　如今嫁入温莎城堡已不再是童话。回首孩子们破碎的婚姻（查尔斯、安娜公主和安德鲁王子都未能逃脱离婚的命运），女王不禁自问：作为一个母亲，她是否失职？或许正如她曾经所问：“我们哪儿做错了？”