英国王室一直受全球瞩目，今年9月9日英女王伊丽莎白二世打破她的曾曾祖母维多利亚女王在位63年零216天的纪录，成为英国历史上在位时间最长的君主。以女王为代表的王室成员一年到头出席各种活动，那么，有王室成员在场的时候，有哪些基本的礼仪需要注意呢？

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.
英国王室家族的成员都是大忙人。他们参加官方活动的行程排得满满当当，少有坐下来休息的时候。王室成员出面会见来访者时，有些注意事项希望来宾能够了解。

These standards are known as royal protocol – a set of customs and rules that must be met when interacting with the monarchy.
这些注意事项也就是王室礼仪——与王室打交道时要遵守的一些习俗和规矩。

Queen Elizabeth II in particular would expect everyone to stand up when she entered a room – even members of her own family.
女王伊丽莎白二世进入房间时，所有人都要起身，王室家族的成员也不例外。

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，女王主动伸手时才可与她握手，而且，握手时只需轻轻一握。

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'.
对于从未见过王室的人来说，这样的会面可能会让人有些忐忑——谁先开口说话，眼睛该往哪儿看，该怎么称呼王室成员，都是有规矩的。比如，女王希望来宾一开始称呼她“女王陛下”，之后可以称呼为“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."
多数礼节都可以追溯到几百年前。伦敦大学皇家霍洛威学院的历史学家凯特•威廉姆斯博士在接受BBC采访时说：“从中世纪开始，王室是受了上帝的神圣指派来统治（世界）的，因此，他们从某种程度上就被看做上帝。”就算到现在，她说“你不能亲吻他们，你不能触摸他们，你只能鞠躬，一次又一次给他们鞠躬。”

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!
当然了，需要向王室行鞠躬礼的只是男士，而且只需微微弯腰或者点头即可。女士们自然是要行屈膝礼的，不过不需要大费周章，稍稍弯下膝盖就可以了。

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.
如果你没有遵守礼节或者坏了规矩，会怎么样呢？当然也不会怎么样。英国君主官网是这样说的：“与女王或王室家族成员会面时并没有必须遵守的行为准则，只是大家都愿意遵守传统惯例。”前BBC王室通讯员珍妮•邦德表示“那些所谓的如果女王不跟你说话，就不能主动与女王说话的规矩，我根本不相信。我原来老给她讲笑话！”不过，真的跟女王见面时，你会跟她讲什么笑话呢？她之前可能已经听过不少了。

词汇表

official engagements 官方活动

humbled 谦卑的

protocol 礼仪

the monarchy 王室，君主

uninitiated 生手，没有经验的

formalities 礼节

bow 鞠躬

curtsy 屈膝礼

breach 违反

obligatory 必须的，强制性的