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It was a small gesture, but a pointed one, and designed to underscore
the Queen's staunch support
for London's Olympic bid.
As members of the International Olympic Committee attended a banquet
last night, Buckingham Palace abandoned tradition to present each with a
menu card written not in French, but English.
For as long as anyone can remember menus at the Queen's official
banquets have been written in French, generally regarded as the
international language of cuisine.
But, as three generations of the Royal Family and the Prime Minister
joined sporting stars and dignitaries in the State Dining Room alongside
the IOC's Evaluation Commission, there, in plain English, were the menus.
With Paris one of four cities vying for the 2012 games alongside
London, there were no doubts as to where the Queen's sentiments lay. She
even banned French wines from the menu, replacing pre-prandial champagne with
Nyetimber 1995, an English sparkling wine, and choosing Commonwealth wines
from Australia and New Zealand to accompany the meal.
"It probably is the first time menus for such an occasion have not been
in French," admitted one Palace aide. "It is very unusual. But, it is the
British Olympic bid, and we wanted to showcase Britain, not France."
Footmen each wore lapel pins bearing the London 2012 logo.
The IOC guests were driven in a fleet of taxis to the Palace, which had
been floodlit for the
occasion, and through the Grand Entrance lit by burning torches.
They were greeted by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in the White
Drawing Room after being presented by the Princess Royal, who was a member
of the British equestrian team at the Montreal Games in 1976 and has been
a member of the IOC since 1988. Her daughter, Zara Phillips, who was
shortlisted for the 2004 Olympics but ruled out when her horse was
injured, was also present.
The dinner, attended by 46, was the highlight of London's presentation
to the IOC delegates, who arrived on Tuesday and now head off to assess
Paris's chances.
(Agencies) |
盡管只是一個小小的舉動，卻具有明顯的針對性——它充分體現了英國女王對倫敦申奧的堅定支持。
昨晚（2月18日），國際奧委會的成員們在英國白金漢宮參加了一場晚宴。在宴會上，白金漢宮的主人摒棄傳統，為每位客人提供的菜單全部改為英文書寫，而不是法文。
在人們的記憶中，英國女王舉辦的正式宴會的菜單一直都是用法文書寫的，因為法語通常被視為烹飪領域的國際語言。
然而，當英國皇室三代成員、國家首相與體育明星、社會名流們同聚一堂，在國宴廳宴請國際奧委會考察評估小組時，菜單上出現的卻是簡樸的英文。
巴黎是和倫敦一起競爭2012年奧運會主辦權的四座城市之一，而女王支持的對象自然不言而喻。她甚至把法國葡萄酒排除在菜單之外，代之以本國Nyetimber酒莊1995年產的餐前香檳（一種英國汽酒），還選擇了來自英聯邦國家澳大利亞和新西蘭的配餐酒。
白金漢宮的一位助手承認說：“這種場合的菜單不用法文也許是頭一次。這很不尋常，但這畢竟是英國的申奧活動呀，我們想展示我們英國的風采，而不是法國的。”
每位男侍者的衣領上都別著2012年倫敦申奧的徽章。
來自國際奧委會的客人們被出租車隊送進了白金漢宮。為了這次盛宴，白金漢宮被裝點得燈火輝煌。宮殿入口處的整個前廳都被熊熊燃燒的火炬照亮。
客人們由長公主安妮引進白金漢宮的白色會客廳，女王和愛丁堡公爵在那里迎接他們。安妮公主作為英國馬術隊的成員參加了1976年加拿大蒙特利爾奧運會，而且從1988年起成為國際奧委會成員。出席宴會的還有她的女兒扎拉·菲麗普斯。小公主菲麗普斯曾被列入2004年奧運會的馬術運動員候選名單，但終因她的馬受傷而未能參加奧運會。
這場晚宴共有46人參加，是倫敦向國際奧委會代表進行申奧陳述的亮點。國際奧委會代表團成員于上周二抵達英國，現在他們已經前往法國，對巴黎進行評估。
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2005-02-22 10:23
