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| Words in the News
Monday 03 June 2002
Vocabulary from the news. Listen to and read the report then find explanations of difficult words below.
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State of the British Monarchy
Summary: During an extended Jubilee weekend, Britain is celebrating the fiftieth year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. But what is the current state of the British monarchy? This report from Paul Reynolds.
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| | The News | |
| | | The standing of the British monarchy is much stronger now than most thought possible ten years ago. The Queen herself described 1992 as her "annus horribilis". The marriages of her children were breaking up, the royal family's finances were under attack and, in a metaphor for the fall of the house of Windsor, Windsor Castle had just caught fire.
In fact, worse was to follow, in 1997, after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales when the royal family failed to respond to the public sense of shock. But that moment of crisis became a turning point as the Queen realized that further change was needed. Since then she has steadied the ship and during these jubilee celebrations, it has become clear that the tide of republicanism has ebbed.
This doesn't mean an end to reform. The monarchy continues to be based on legislation, the Act of Settlement dating from 1701, under which the monarch has to be of the Protestant religion and has to swear to uphold it in the coronation oath.
There is a movement which questions how long, in a land where discrimination is largely outlawed, the highest office can be based on discrimination. And there are other potential problems ahead if the Prince of Wales seeks to marry his companion Camilla Parker Bowles. She would become Queen if he becomes King and there is uncertainty as to whether the people would readily accept that. Which is one reason why many Britons are saying with more than the usual ritualistic feeling: long live the Queen.
Paul Reynolds, BBC
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| | The Words
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| | | standing
status
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| | | annus horribilis
Latin: a very bad year
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| | | in a metaphor for
as a physical representation of
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| | | a turning point
a time when things change greatly
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| | | steadied the ship
taken control and improved things
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| | | the tide of republicanism has ebbed
republicanism has become less of a threat
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| | | coronation oath
the promise a monarch makes to the people when he/she is crowned
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| | | outlawed
illegal
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| | | readily
happily, willingly
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| | | ritualistic
traditional, ceremonial
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| | Read more about this story | |
| | Other Words in the News archives | |
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