英伦广角 2011-05-01 巴林王子拒绝出席威廉王子婚

The very fact that the Crown Prince of Bahrain had been invited to the royal wedding in the first place was cause for some small controversy¹ amongst human rights campaigners disgusted at the way his regime was handling protests in the Arab Kingdom.

Salman AL-Khalifa is now, as far as public knowledge goes, the first and only person to turn down an invite to next Friday's ceremony. He did so, he says, so as not to overshadow the occasion. "I'm saddened and troubled," he revealed. And addressing the media reports over his invite he said while these have certainly highlighted a number of significant issues currently facing the Kingdom of Bahrain, they have fundamentally misrepresented my own views, outlook and position on recent events, and thus, clearly sought to involve my potential attendance as a political proxy² for wider matters involving Bahrain.

Clarence House confirmed that it was told this morning that the Crown Prince of Bahrain wouldn't now be coming to London, although it is understood that the Bahraini ambassador to London will be attending the wedding next Friday.

A whole collection of foreign royalty³ and political heads of state will be amongst the 1,900 guests in Westminster Abbey next week.

"Quite clearly common senses prevailed. It is conventional that foreign royals are invited, but they are invited on the advice of the Foreign Office, and quite clearly the Foreign Office got it wrong and totally out of touch with what's  going on in that part of the world."

Crown Prince  Khalifa's ally Prince Mohammed bin⁴ Nawaf of Saudi Arabia will also be present. His country lent military support to Bahrain following the anti-government protests.

Downing Street and the Foreign Office would have advised Clarence House and Buckingham Palace on political and diplomatic invites. The British government has been repeatedly outspoken⁵ about the Bahraini regime's attitude towards protesters. Diplomatically, the Crown Prince's no-show might allow David Cameron to relax a little more when he takes a seat in Westminster Abbey on Friday.

Alistair Bunkall, Sky News, Clarence House.

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

3 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

4 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

5 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。