从威廉王子的头衔看英国贵族爵位之分-英语点津

特别推荐：英威廉王子大婚新世纪“童话婚礼”登场

Full details on Prince William's titles - he is now the Duke of Cambridge, the Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus. After the wedding, Kate Middleton will come into them too. All titles are in the gift of the Queen and it was up to the monarch to choose which one to bestow on her grandson and his new wife.

威廉王子现在的头衔是：剑桥公爵、斯特拉森伯爵、卡里克弗格斯男爵。婚后凯特也会被册封相应头衔。这些头衔都是由女王自己决定如何册封的。

Tradition dictates that royal men receive a title on their wedding - and often more than one. As well as a duchess, Miss Middleton will also technically be Princess William of Wales.

皇室成员结婚后都会被赐予头衔，有时候还不止一个。凯特将会被称为威尔士王妃或者公爵夫人。

Here's what each of those titles mean:

从威廉王子的头衔看英国贵族爵位之分

这些头衔的含义如下：

• Duke of Cambridge - a dukedom is the highest rank in British peerage. Dukes were the the rulers of the provinces and the King's closest peers in centuries gone by. The second duke of Cambridge, Prince Adolphus Frederick, was the seventh son of King George III. Defying the Royal Marriage Act, he married his mistress, Sarah Louisa Fairbrother, an actress and a commoner, in 1847. Since the marriage wasn't legal, his children were all illegitimate.

剑桥公爵——公爵是仅次于国王或亲王的最高级贵族，是省级行政区的统治者。上一位剑桥公爵阿道弗斯·弗雷德里克亲王是乔治三世的儿子，因为娶了一位平民女子，违抗了皇室的命令，因此子女都没有受封。他死后，“剑桥公爵”的爵位悬缺至今。

• Earl of Strathearn - Earls are the third rank of British peerage. They were traditionally associated with shires, working in effect as local governors, but this relationship died centuries ago.

斯特拉森伯爵——伯爵的地位在贵族中排名第三，郡的统治者，不过这种统治关系在几个世纪前就废除了。

• Baron Carrickfergus - Barons are the lowest rank of nobility, originally meaning someone who had pledged their loyalty to the king. Carrickfergus is a large town in Northern Ireland.

卡里克弗格斯男爵——男爵是贵族中最低的爵位，最早的男爵就是向皇室表明忠心的人。卡里克弗格斯是北爱尔兰的一个大镇镇名。