英國：查爾斯王儲慶60歲生日

Britain's Prince Charles celebrates his 60th birthday on Friday with an improved rating in popular opinion.

The Prince of Wales, who is one of the longest-serving heirs to the British throne was greeted on his birthday by a poll showing more people prefer him to succeed his mother Queen Elizabeth as monarch than hiselder son William.

The poll, carried out by YouGov, found 42 percent of people were in favor of him succeeding the Queen, compared to 35 percent who thought the throne should skip a generation to Prince William, Charles's elder son.

When the same question was asked in 2005, only 31 percent backed Charles, while 42 percent preferred William.

Over the years there have been suggestions that Charles should renounce his claim to the throne, with some arguing that his divorce from Diana and eventual remarriage conflicts with the monarch's role as head of the Church of England.

Charles was just three when his mother became Queen, making him, as her eldest son, heir to the throne. The Queen, now 82, is the oldest reigning monarch in the history of the nation and is still in good health. Her mother lived to be 101.

Only George IV, who became king in 1820, and Edward VII, who reigned from 1901, were kings-in-waiting for longer, spending 58 and 59 years respectively as heirs to the throne.

Celebrations to mark Charles's birthday included a comedy gala in a theater in the southwestern London, featuring John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson and Robin Williams, as well as a concert and banquet at Buckingham Palace.

For the official birthday portrait, Charles wore the ceremonial uniform of the Welsh Guards, minus the headdress. He has been Colonel of the Welsh Guards since 1975.

英國王儲、威爾士親王查爾斯於上週五迎來了他的60歲生日，當天他收到的最有意義的生日禮物應該就是他的民衆支持率有所上升。

一項有關王位繼承人的民調顯示，目前查爾斯王儲的民衆支持率超過了他的大兒子威廉王子。查爾斯是目前英國曆史上“任期”最長的王儲之一。

這項由YouGov機構開展的民調顯示，42%的受訪者希望查爾斯王儲能成爲女王伊拉莎白二世的下任王位繼承人，35%的人認爲王位應該由目前的第二王位繼承人、查爾斯的長子威廉王子繼承。

而2005年的一項相同的民調顯示，查爾斯的民衆支持率僅爲31%，而威廉王子的支持率爲45%。

多年來，一直有人建議查爾斯應放棄王位繼承權，有些人認爲他與戴安娜王妃離婚、之後又再婚的行爲與其英國國教最高領袖的身份不符。

現任女王伊拉莎白二世繼承王位時，查爾斯年僅三歲，當時身爲長子的他便成了王位繼承人。現年82歲的女王伊拉莎白二世是英國曆史上最年長的君主，而且目前她的身體狀況還很好。女王母親的壽命長達101歲。

英國曆史上比目前查爾斯王儲“待崗” 時間還要長的兩位君主是1820年繼位的喬治四世和1901年繼位的愛德華七世，他們分別等待了58年和59年之久。

爲了給查爾斯王儲慶生，倫敦西南部的一家劇院舉辦了一場喜劇演出，出席演出的明星包括約翰•克里斯，（憨豆先生）羅恩•阿特金森和羅賓•威廉姆斯；此外，白金漢宮還舉辦了盛大的生日音樂會和晚宴。

在生日肖像照中，查爾斯身着威爾士禁衛軍制服，未戴頭飾。查爾斯於1975年開始擔任威爾士禁衛軍陸軍上校。

Vocabulary:

renounce:to give up（放棄；斷絕）