6月3日,英国女王伊丽莎白二世与王室成员搭乘“王室之舟”巡游泰晤士河,以庆祝女王登基60周年钻石禧年。英国首相卡梅伦对女王的不懈奉献精神表达敬意,并表示女王不会提前退位,将用余生继续为国家服务。在接受英国广播公司采访时,卡梅伦称赞女王为“卓越的有奉献精神的公仆”。他表示,女王虽已到86岁高龄,但工作热情丝毫未有减退,也没有减少工作量的迹象。他还大赞女王有着强大的生命力,称她的健康状况很好,且目光深远、思维敏锐。对于女王会因健康原因提前退位,以及女王会绕过查尔斯王储转而传位给威廉王子等传言,卡梅伦也一并予以驳回,称这些都是“不可能的”。
David Cameron has paid tribute to the Queen’s unstinting devotion to her duty and ruled out any prospect of her ever stepping down early. |
David Cameron has paid tribute to the Queen’s unstinting devotion to her duty and ruled out any prospect of her ever stepping down early.
The Prime Minister said it was “out of the question” for the Queen to abdicate and pass the crown to either the Prince of Wales or the Duke of Cambridge.
The Prime Minister also praised the monarch’s role advising and counseling her governments, speaking of her ability to “cut through the fluff and nonsense” of day-to-day politics.
In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Mr Cameron spoke of the Queen’s “100 percent dedication” to her role, describing her as “an extraordinarily devoted public servant".
The Queen may be 86, but Mr Cameron said he saw no sign of her slowing down or reducing her workload.
"You never see any sign that her devotion is getting any less. It's hard to think of her ever putting a foot wrong,” he said.
“I don’t see any sign of her working less hard. You never see her say, I’m going to step back a little.”
“She’s someone who seems to have enormous physical strength. She’s in incredibly good and strong health. Her insights, her sharpness is extraordinary.
In an address to both houses of Parliament earlier this year, the Queen “rededicated” herself to the service of her country for the rest of her life.
Mr Cameron said he believed that the monarch will devote herself to her duties until the last.
"You get the sense she will go on doing the amazing job she has done for this country for as long as she possibly can,” he said.
The Prime Minister dismissed suggestions that the Queen might step down early if her health suffers, or that she might want to be succeeded by her grandson instead of her eldest son.
“I think that both those things are out of the question,” Mr Cameron said.
The Prime Minister also spoke about his weekly audience of the Queen.
He is the 12th prime minister of the Queen’s reign, and she has held private weekly meetings with all of them, discussing Government business and politics.
The audiences are entirely private, with no officials present or notes kept. Mr Cameron said the private sessions are extremely useful, and spoke of the Queen’s useful and incisive contributions.
The monarch shows “extraordinary sharpness” in her assessment of events, he said, describing the audiences as “a conversation not a monologue.”
In particular, the Queen’s extensive foreign travels, including more than 200 official overseas visits, make her an invaluable source of advice on international affairs, he said.
“There’s hardly a country she doesn’t know about, hardly a head of state she hasn’t met.”
Although most of the weekly briefing concerns foreign policy and military matters, Mr Cameron said they also discuss domestic issues and the politics of the day.
“With her huge experience, she does seem to cut through the fluff and nonsense to the key common sense points that really matter,” he said.
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(Agencies)
(中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑)