愛(ài)就是一切

Although neither of them remembered the occasion， Diana first met her future husband when she was just a baby. It happened during the winter of 1961， when twelve-year-old Charles， Prince of Wales， was visiting his mother's Sandringham retreat.

At the time， your Prince Charles barely glanced at the tiny baby sleeping in her cot. After all ， how could a twelve-year-old boy be interested in babies?

But the Prince would eventually take a very keen interest in this particular baby ， and it would just take some time.

In fact， it would be sixteen years before Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer met each other again.It took place in the middle of a farmer's field during a shooting party in November 1977.

It was a cold， rainy， bleak afternoon when sixteen-year-old Diana， dressed in a borrowed parka that was too large for her， boots， and blue jeans， crossed the field to meet the heir to the British throne.

It was almost twilight when the two came face to face near Nobottle Woods.

\"What a sad man，\" Diana thought when she first saw him. The future Princess was intrigued to finally meet the most eligible bachelor in England， thought she was not impressed with his five-foot-ten-inch height， thinking to herself that she would tower over him in high heels. But Diana would later say that she admired his beautiful blue eyes.

The Prince later remarked that he thought Diana was \"a very jolly and attractive\" girl， \"full of fun，\" though Diana herself believed that \"he barely noticed me at all.\"

Diana， it was discovered later， first came to the attention of the royal family when she acted as a bridesmaid for her sister Jane's wedding that April. It was the first major social occasion that Diana attended as a young woman. And many of the royals were surprised at how beautiful and mature the once-gawky girl had become.

Even the Queen Mother. Prince Charles's grandmother， noticed Diana's beauty， grace， and charm. She complimented the Earl on the fine job he had done in bringing Diana up.

A short time later， Prince Charles sent his valet to hand-deliver a formal invitation for Diana to accompany him that very evening to the opera and a latenight dinner at the palace.

Though she was flustered， and the invitation came at such short notice， Diana accepted. She and her roommate， Carolyn Bartholomew， hurried to dress and prepare Diana for her big date. The evening was a success， and an invitation to party on the royal yacht came soon after...

Although she was intimidated by the crowd at Balmoral， Diana was wise enough not to stay in the castle itself . She asked for， and was granted， an invitation to stay with her sister Jane and her young husband at their cottage on the Balmoral estate.

The Prince visited Diana there every day， offering to escort her to a barbecue， or extending an invitation for a long walk in the woods.

When Charles went to Switzerland for a ski vacation， Diana missed him terribly. He called her after a day or two， and told Diana he had something important to ask her.

He arrived home on February， 3， 1981.Three days later， he arranged to see Diana at Windsor Castle. Late that evening， while Prince Charles was showing Diana the nursery， he asked her to marry him.

To his surprise， Diana treated his proposal as a joke. She actually giggled. But soon she could see that Prince Charles was serious. Despite an insistent voice inside her head that told her she would never be Queen， she accepted his proposal.

Diana told Prince Charles over and over that she loved him.

\"Whatever love means.\" was his reply.

盡管兩人已記不清那段往事，可當(dāng)黛安娜頭一次見(jiàn)到她未來(lái)的丈夫時(shí)，還只是個(gè)孩子。那是在1961年的冬天，當(dāng)時(shí)年僅12歲的威爾士王儲(chǔ)查爾斯正待在夏丁漢他母親的休養(yǎng)所。

那時(shí)，年輕的查爾斯王子幾乎看都沒(méi)看那個(gè)睡在童床里的小不點(diǎn)兒。畢竟，12歲的孩子怎么會(huì)對(duì)嬰兒感興趣呢？

然而，這位王子最終就是對(duì)這個(gè)嬰孩產(chǎn)生了強(qiáng)烈的興趣，只不過(guò)那是后來(lái)的事了。

實(shí)際上，查爾斯王子與黛安娜·斯賓塞女士再次相遇已是16年后了。那次邂逅是在1977年11月的一次鄉(xiāng)村狩獵會(huì)中。

那是一個(gè)陰雨綿綿，寒風(fēng)刺骨的下午，16歲的黛安娜，身穿借來(lái)的一件過(guò)大的毛皮風(fēng)雪大衣，足登長(zhǎng)靴，下身是一件藍(lán)色牛仔褲。她正經(jīng)過(guò)這片狩獵場(chǎng)朝著這位英國(guó)王位繼承人走來(lái)。

接近黃昏時(shí)分，二人在諾布托樹(shù)木附近迎面相遇。

當(dāng)黛安娜第一眼看到王子時(shí)，心里想：“一個(gè)多么憂郁的人。”盡管黛安娜對(duì)于他5英尺10英寸的身高并不以為然，覺(jué)得要是她穿著高跟鞋肯定會(huì)高過(guò)他，但這位未來(lái)的王妃還是期盼與英國(guó)最令人中意的單身漢見(jiàn)面。可是黛安娜后來(lái)說(shuō)她很羨慕王子那雙迷人的藍(lán)色眼睛。

雖然黛安娜自己認(rèn)為“他根本沒(méi)注意過(guò)我”，但王子后來(lái)說(shuō)道，他覺(jué)得黛安娜是個(gè)“快樂(lè)而迷人的”姑娘，“很有趣。”

人們后來(lái)發(fā)現(xiàn)，黛安娜第一次引起皇室的注意是在那年4月她姐姐簡(jiǎn)的婚禮上，當(dāng)時(shí)她是伴娘。這是她成年后參加的第一個(gè)大型社交活動(dòng)，許多皇室成員對(duì)這個(gè)當(dāng)初還是個(gè)粗笨難看的丫頭，現(xiàn)如今卻出落成如此成熟美麗的女人頗感驚訝。

就連查爾斯王子的祖母王后陛下都注意到了黛安娜的美麗、端莊和迷人。她稱贊伯爵對(duì)黛安娜的精心培養(yǎng)。

不久之后，查爾斯王子派隨從親手送給她一張正式的請(qǐng)柬，邀請(qǐng)黛安娜當(dāng)晚陪伴他去看歌劇并出席午夜的宮廷晚宴。

盡管黛安娜感到局促不安，且請(qǐng)柬來(lái)得太匆忙，可她還是接受了。她與她的室友卡洛琳·巴賽洛繆，匆匆忙忙地梳洗打扮并為黛安娜做好了去赴這個(gè)重大約會(huì)的準(zhǔn)備。當(dāng)晚非常盡興，不久邀請(qǐng)她參加皇家游艇聚會(huì)的請(qǐng)柬又接踵而至……

雖然黛安娜對(duì)于拜爾馬洛的眾王族感到有些害怕，可她十分明智沒(méi)有前往城堡。她提出請(qǐng)求，并得到批準(zhǔn)，邀請(qǐng)她住在姐姐簡(jiǎn)和簡(jiǎn)的年輕丈夫在拜爾馬洛的別墅中。

王子每天都去那里拜訪她，要么提出陪她參加戶外烤肉宴，要么邀請(qǐng)她去樹(shù)林中進(jìn)行長(zhǎng)時(shí)間散步。

當(dāng)查爾斯去瑞士做滑雪旅行時(shí)，黛安娜對(duì)他朝思暮想。查爾斯到那里一兩天后就打電話給她，告訴黛安娜他回英格蘭后，要問(wèn)她一些重要的事情。

1981年2月3日他回來(lái)了。3天后，他安排在溫莎堡見(jiàn)黛安娜。那天晚上，當(dāng)查爾斯王子陪黛安娜參觀育嬰室的時(shí)候，他向她求婚。

令王子驚訝的是，黛安娜把他的求婚當(dāng)作了一個(gè)玩笑。她咯咯地笑起來(lái)。但不久后她看得出查爾斯王子是認(rèn)真的。盡管她的腦海中一直有個(gè)聲音告誡她不要想著去當(dāng)王妃，可她還是接受了王子的請(qǐng)求。

黛安娜一遍又一遍地對(duì)王子說(shuō)她愛(ài)他。

“愛(ài)就是一切，”王子答道。

能說(shuō)會(huì)用

after all： adv.畢竟

He failed after all. 他還是失敗了。

He did come after all! 他畢竟還是來(lái)了！

◆編輯：譚添夏