The Queen Mother lived through the whole of the 20th century without once having to open or draw her bedroom curtains herself.



But she did get more exercised when her normally abstemious(1) daughter, Queen Elizabeth, once asked for a second glass of wine at lunch.



"Are you sure dear? You have got to reign all afternoon, you know," she said, gently teasing(2) the monarch.



When it comes to tales of the quirky or eccentric(3), little beats the Royal Family -- as writer Thomas Blaikie discovered while researching "Corgi and Bess: More Wit and Wisdom from The House of Windsor."



From the memoirs(4) of dressmaker Hardy Amies and portrait painter Pietro Annigoni to the recollections(5) of novelist Barbara Cartland, he trawled(6) the archives researching a second volume of royal trivia(7) after the success of his first in 2002.



No tale is too obscure for English teacher Blaikie.



For instance, whatever happened to the piece of cloth woven by Mahatma Gandhi as a wedding gift for the Queen? She still keeps it in a drawer in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace.



Anecdotes(8) about how the royals relate to elected rulers and families make for entertaining reading.



When Tony Blair won a landslide(9) election victory in 1997, the Queen said of her 10th prime minister: "I suppose he will want me to call him Tony?"



His wife is also said to have told Princess Anne: "Do call me Cherie." Her frosty reply: "I think not, actually."



Prince Charles does not escape mild mockery(10).



Overawed(11) on meeting Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall, he spluttered(12), "I so enjoyed your black-and-white films."



"I'm not that old, prince," she growled back.



Prince Harry lives up to his reputation as a royal wild child.



When he bought a marabou-trimmed thong, he told the wide-eyed(13) shop assistant: "It's for my nanny."







王太后一生经历了整个20世纪，却从来没有自己挂过一次卧室窗帘。



但是，当一贯节制的女儿女王伊丽莎白在午餐中要第二杯酒的时候，她就积极多了。



她柔声揶揄女王说："亲爱的，你确定么？你下午还得在位呢，你知道的。"



作家托马斯布赖基在研究《考杰和贝丝：温莎王朝的机智风趣》的时候发现，皇室的离奇怪癖故事比一般人家都多。



2002年托马斯曾成功出版了第一册有关皇室琐事的书，现在，他又仔细搜罗了从小说家芭芭拉卡特兰德的回忆录到裁缝哈代艾米丝和肖像画家皮特隆安妮冈尼的回忆录，再次推出皇室琐事第二册。



英语老师布莱基没有放过任何一件芝麻小事。



例如，圣雄甘地曾亲手纺织一块布作为女王的结婚礼物。自始至终，女王都把它珍藏在白金汉宫的卧室抽屉中。



皇室与被推选的统治者之间也有很有意思的轶闻。



1997年托尼布莱尔以绝对优势当选第十任首相时，女王说："我猜他会让我叫他托尼？"



据说他的妻子曾对安妮公主说："叫我查理就行。" 公主冷淡地说："我想就不必了。"



查尔斯王子也难逃人们善意的嘲弄。



见到好莱坞传奇人物劳伦巴考尔的时候，他太震撼了，语无伦次地说："我特别喜欢您的黑白电影。"



她不满地说："王子，我没那么老。"



哈里王子是皇室有名的野孩子。



一次他购买一条鹳毛装饰的腰带，他对吃惊的店员说："这是送给我奶奶的。"



中国国际广播电台 译



1. abstemious：有节制的



2. tease：揶揄，戏弄



3. eccentric：古怪的



4. memoir：回忆录



5. recollection：回忆



6. trawl：搜索，搜罗



7. trivia：琐事



8. anecdote：轶事，趣闻



9. landslide：压倒性的胜利



10. mockery：嘲笑、嘲弄



11. overawe：使敬畏



12. splutter：结结巴巴说话不连贯



13. wide-eyed：张大眼睛的、吃惊的


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