Text3. THE ROYAL FAMILY

More than a thousand years of tradition make the British royal family what it is today. The present family keeps many historic traditions alive. But they are more than history - they are also real people with their own stories and problems.

The royal family is part of a changing world, and today serious questions are asked about its future.

There were many kings and queens who did a lot for the country and its people; and among them was Princess Diana, one of the most popular women in the world, with her unusual life story that ended most unexpectedly and tragically. Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris. She was only thirty-six. Her new lover, Dodi al Fayed, died with her. Before that terrible day, she was just starting a happier time in her life, after her divorce from Prince Charles. Diana’s life was hard. When she married Prince Charles in 1981, she seemed to have everything. She came from a rich family, she was beautiful and her husband was the future king of Britain. But even as a child she was unhappy after her mother left home. Then, as a princess, she was lonely when Prince Charles lost interest in her. Perhaps her two sons, William and Harry, were the only really happy part of her life. Diana was a new kind of princess, and she could help to make a better future for Britain and the royal family. She was not

afraid to speak about her problems in public which was unusual for the royal family, and the public liked her because she opened her heart to them and helped them.

On 2 June 1953, nearly forty-four years before Princess Diana’s funeral, the streets of London were also full. But people were there for a much happier occasion. On that day the young Princess Elizabeth was crowned as Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. As a little girl, Elizabeth didn’t know that one day she would be queen. Her grandfather was King George V. But George and his wife Mary had six children. Their oldest son, the handsome and popular Edward, was the next in line to be king. Elizabeth’s father, Albert, was only the second child, born in 1895.

When they were boys, Edward and Albert were often unhappy. The children only saw their parents for an hour every day. Their nurse was a hard woman and often hurt Edward. George V was a good king, but not a very kind father. ‘I was frightened of my father, and my children are going to be frightened of me!’ he said.

Albert, or ‘Bertie’, was shy, and the family made this worse for him. He wrote naturally with his left hand, but he was told to use his right hand. He also had a speech problem. He couldn’t always say the words that he wanted to say. His father only laughed at his son. Later, he had help from a special teacher, but all his life it was hard for Bertie to make speeches.

The name of the royal family was now ‘Windsor’. They changed their name in 1917, during the First World War with Germany. Their family names at that time were German, and it was better to have an English one. So George chose the name ‘Windsor’. Windsor Castle is one of the old places where the royal family often stays. Princess Elizabeth and her sister Margaret grew up in a warm, loving home. ‘Us four,’ her father called his little family. Before he was king, they lived in a large house on Piccadilly. It wasn’t a palace, but it was big enough. It had 25 bedrooms, a library, and a room for dances and parties! Sadly, it is not there now - a bomb destroyed it in the war.

The girls had their own private teacher. Miss Crawford, a Scottish woman. ‘Crawfie’ gave them their lessons at home every morning, and in the afternoons Margaret and Elizabeth also studied dancing, art and music. The girls had a happy life, but they didn’t know much about the lives of ordinary people. They did have friends, but these were usually from other rich and important families. Once they went on the underground train in London, and this was a great adventure!

When she was small, Elizabeth tried to say her own name. It came out as ‘Lilibet’. Since that time her family have often called her Lilibet. Elizabeth was always a serious little girl. She liked to be tidy. She tried to put her clothes and her shoes very tidily by her bed each night; then she sometimes got out of bed in the night and made them even tidier. Margaret was wilder and funnier than her sister. Both girls loved horses from an early age, and they played with

‘horses’ every night in their bedrooms - not real ones, of course! Elizabeth liked to ‘drive’ her horses when she was sitting up in bed.

Two things changed their lives. The first was the day that their father became King George VI. The second was World War Two. King George was crowned on 12 May 1937. He was already king, but the ceremony to crown him was held later. It was on the same date that they planned to crown his older brother, Edward. They had to hurry to get everything ready in time. They had to change Edward’s picture on the cups and other presents, and make special clothes for George and his wife. On the great day the little princesses wore long dresses and silver shoes. Their grandmother, Queen Mary, wore a dress with gold flowers, and they drove with her by horse and carriage to Westminster Abbey for the ceremony. The family moved into Buckingham Palace, and they spent time at the other royal houses and palaces.

At Windsor, the girls could be outside a lot of time; they rode horses and exercised their dogs. Earlier, in 1933, Elizabeth was given her first Corgi - a kind of dog that has short legs and light brown hair. Corgis are still Elizabeth’s favourite dogs! Of course, the girls were growing up now. They could make socks for soldiers too, and Elizabeth often had to meet important visitors. Her parents wanted to prepare her for her job as a queen.

Elizabeth was thirteen when she first met Philip at Dartmouth, in Devon. He was in the navy there, and he was six years older than her. At that time, he was a young man, and she was still a schoolgirl. But later, they fell in love, and in the summer of 1946 they agreed to marry. Her father asked her to keep the agreement secret for a year, until she was twenty-one. Philip’s family was poor, but royal. They came from the Greek royal family, but they also had relatives in the Danish, British and Russian royal families! Philip and Elizabeth got married in Westminster Abbey in November 1947. For the nation, it was a very romantic and magical wedding - the handsome, popular young prince and the serious, sweet princess. The newspapers were full of stories about the young Queen. But they also had a few stories about her sister, Margaret. When Elizabeth was crowned in Westminster Abbey, people noticed that Princess Margaret was very friendly with an older man, Peter Townsend. Peter was already married, but later he divorced his wife. Again, this was a problem for the royal family. Margaret was in a very difficult position. Peter wanted to marry her, but in the end Margaret decided to refuse him and to keep her place in the royal family. Old rules and modern love were making serious problems for the royal family. And it was not the first or the last fight in the family between love and duty.

In 1948 and 1950 Elizabeth had her first two children: a son, Charles, and a daughter, Anne. Life for the royal family continued without any serious problems while Prince Charles and Princess Anne were growing up. In 1960 and 1964 she had two more children - Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. The Queen often had to travel abroad, and Prince Philip often went with her. Their

first big formal tour together was in 1953, just after Elizabeth became queen. In six months they traveled from Bermuda to Jamaica, New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka. The children didn’t usually travel with their parents on these early tours. But in 1953, at the end of the Commonwealth tour, Charles and Anne had a short trip on the first official journey of the new royal ship - the Britannia. This expensive and beautiful boat became a great favorite of the family over the years. It was, in many ways, a very safe and happy life for Elizabeth’s children. But they could never be exactly like ordinary children. In their early lives, Anne and Charles had nurses and private teachers, like the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret before them. On an ordinary day, the children saw their parents for only an hour or two. They often went to visit their mother in her sitting-room in the late afternoon, and then returned to their own rooms for supper. Sometimes they didn’t see her for months when she was away on tour.

In the 1960s, life in Britain changed suddenly. There were new clothes, new music, new ideas. Young people had long hair and talked openly about sex. To many of them, the royal family seemed boring. In a new, exciting Britain, who wanted all that old history? The Queen decided that she had to make some changes. She wanted to ‘open a window’ on to the royal family. In 1969, television cameras came into the royal home and filmed the family in private for the first time. Forty million people saw a different side of the royal family. This programme brought the royal family closer to the people, but now the public wanted to see more and more of the royal private life, and it was harder to keep the reporters out.

The Queen’s working day usually starts with the reading of the newspapers. Then she turns to her letters and other documents which she has to study carefully and sign. Later in the morning Queen Elizabeth usually sees important visitors at the Palace. These can be people from the Church of England, or Parliament, or officials who work for Britain abroad.

She sees each person alone for about ten or twenty minutes. The Queen usually has lunch privately, but every two months she and Prince Philip invite guests to lunch with them in Buckingham Palace. After lunch, she often goes out on a public visit, perhaps to a hospital, school or factory. Sometimes these visit take longer, and the Queen flies to another city or travels at night on the royal train. Once a week, the Queen meets the Prime minister privately. They discuss government business and important things that are happening in the country. In the early days, Elizabeth changed the official time of these meetings with the Prime Minister so she could be with her small children at bath-time! In the evening the Queen reads the report of the day from Parliament. She isn’t a politician, and in modern Britain the power is with the government, but she must agree to every new law. This is a formal agreement; no British king or queen has refused a new law since 1707. During her meetings with the Prime Minister, she can tell him her views. If she doesn’t agree with the government’s

plans, she can say that. Officially, the Queen chooses the new Prime Minister too. Later in the evening, Elizabeth sometimes goes out to parties or to the theatre. Usually these are official visits, so she is still on duty. Then, before bed, the Queen sometimes looks again through her papers.

The royal family is less safe in a changing world. The difficult year of 1992, which the Queen called her ‘annus horribilis’ (Latin ‘terrible year’) and the horrible death of Princess Diana in 1997 are the most dramatic proofs of that.

Prince William and Prince Harry are now the royal family of the future. The young Princes understand the important traditions of the British royal family, but Diana gave them something very special. She showed them today’s world too, with its fun and its tragedies. Perhaps the new story of the royal family will begin when King William is crowned in Britain.

3.1. Questions for discussion:

1. What is the royal family for the British people?

2. What problems do you think the royal family has in the modern world?

3. What changes did Princess Diana bring to the life of the nation?

4. Are traditions important in Britain and what role does the royal family play in

keeping up the traditions?

5. What should the public know about the Queen’s private life?

6. What do you think might happen to the royal family in the future?

3.2. Pair work:

Student A:You are going to interview the Queen. Prepare questions to ask (you may ask about her ordinary working day, her views on politics, her preferences, etc.).

Student B:You are the Queen. Answer the reporter’s questions.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1314