威廉办慈善婚礼 来宾贺礼统统给穷人

Most happy couples get ten toasters, bed linen or, at best, a washing machine. Royalty usually go one better – with a racehorse topping the Queen and Prince Philip’s gift list, while Prince Charles and Diana received a ?1 million gem-encrusted gold model of an Arab boat. However, Prince William and Kate Middleton, who want to put their own stamp on their big day, are shunning a traditional wedding list – and lavish gifts – and instead asking guests to donate to charity.

随着威廉和凯特婚期一天天临近，任何有关婚礼细节的新闻都会引起媒体的高度关注，媒体很好奇，凯特这一次嫁入皇室究竟会带什么“嫁妆”呢？是民间嫁女传统的枕头被套？是洗衣机？还是皇室嫁女的嫁妆---赛马？（因为查尔斯和戴安娜结婚时就大买百万英镑阿拉伯镀金赛船做彩礼），媒体不仅好奇：这回凯特要什么呢？这回凯特和威廉一起给出了答案：他们不要奢华彩礼，为了纪念他们的爱情，他们会把印有他们头像图案的邮票做为嫁妆，此外，凯特和威廉还呼吁来参加婚礼的宾客别送彩礼，直接捐钱给慈善，做公益。

The couple will accept presents from close family members, but other guests will be asked to make a confidential charitable donation. Courtiers yesterday confirmed that they are looking at the revolutionary scheme, which will raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for the chosen charities, yet to be decided. ‘William and Kate have everything they need so they have decided that it might be nice to ask for charitable donations instead of presents,’ a source said yesterday. ‘They have said this is their wish and the logistics are being looked into.’

据报道，这对新人还是会收取来自最亲密的家庭成员的礼物，但是其他的客人们就只能慈善捐款给穷人来表达他们对新人的祝福了。皇室工作人员透露，威廉与凯特的这次大婚打算进行一次“历史性的改革”，那就是募集上亿善款给已经指定好的慈善机构。工作人员说：“威廉和凯特觉得他们已经拥有了所有东西，所以他们共同决定不收礼物，将属于自己的幸福分给更需要的人，这些善款都回捐给慈善机构。”

　　All donations will be confidential and guests at the April 29 wedding will be advised on how to make postal and online donations when they receive invitations next month. About 300 guests are expected to attend the evening reception at Buckingham Palace, where Prince Charles is hosting a dinner and dance, but many more will be invited to the 11am ceremony and all will want to give gifts.

据悉，参加威廉与开忒4月29日婚礼的宾客所捐的善款都是保密的，而且皇室成员建议宾客们“网上募捐”，此外，“喜帖”的发放工作也在进行当中，估计下个月喜帖可以送达宾客手中。另外，关于参加婚礼宾客的人数已经初步定下了，共有300名宾客会受邀来到白金汉宫参加这对新人大婚举行的晚宴，以及舞会。这300名宾客是精挑细选出来的，更多的客人会受邀参加早上11点举行的结婚典礼。

When Prince Charles and Lady Diana married in July 1981, they received more than 6,000 gifts, including a piece of crocheted lace made from yarn personally spun by Mahatma Gandhi and a solid gold model of an Arab sailing dhow encrusted with gems from the Emir of Bahrain.

据悉，凯特与威廉这次“简朴的婚礼”与他们的“父母”查尔斯与戴安娜王妃在1981的“奢华婚礼”形成了强烈对比，因为当时查尔斯夫妇收取了超过6000份礼物，这些礼物价格不菲，包括巴林酋长赠送的纯金阿拉伯单桅三角帆船等。