万花筒 Kaleidoscope 2007-04-28&29, 英女王81岁生日

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Celebrations are taking place across Great Britain today as Queen Elizabeth II turns 81. She has been on the throne for more than half a century. But as NBC’s Donna Frozen explains, her popularity has never been stronger.
At her age, most people are enjoying retirement¹, but not Queen Elizabeth II. At 81 she’s still hard at work. As the gun saluted² her birthday in London this morning, the Queen seems to be taking aging like everything else --- perfectly³ in stride, and she’s as beloved by her subjects as ever before.
She's a wonderful lady. I think we should be very proud that we’ve got her.
We are one of the luckiest peoples in the world to have a Queen govern us. No other countries got it, and we are pride of it.
She is steadfast⁴ true. She's become something of a rock for the nation in a turbulent and dangerous age. And she’s something to look up to, an icon⁵ that people can respect.
She attends about 450 engagements every year, has met 10 US Presidents from Harry⁶ Truman to JFK, and Bill Clinton. She's traveled to more countries than any monarch⁷ in history and next month, she's off to the US for a 6-day State Visit.
At 81, she's a phenomenal powerhouse of energy, but the celebrations today will be low-key, just a private dinner at Windsor Castle and a more formal traditional ceremony in June called the Trooping of the Color.
Since her coronation 55 years ago, the first to be televised, she's become a familiar face around the world, balancing motherhood and monarchy⁸, stoically enduring family scandals, including two of her sons’ divorcing, and then the death of Princess Diana. As the world mourned, there was criticism the Queen was aloof⁹ and out of touch with the public mood. The future of the monarchy seemed under threat, a moment captured in the film The Queen.
No member through our family will speak publicly about this, since it's a private matter.
But in the end, she did speak publicly.
I, for one, believe there are lessons to be drawn¹⁰ from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death.
And the film which revealed the inner life of a woman to whom public duty is everything won actress Helen Mirren an Academy Award and won the real Queen new respect.
We now understand that she did show emotion at the time of Diana’s death but was never allowed to show it publicly, because she has in a way to be seen to rise above that sort of outpouring of emotion. Making The Queen perhaps the best actress of them all, who's showing no signs of stepping off the stage.
For today, Donna Frozen, NBC News, London.