我從來就不喜歡稱柔柔為小公主，因為柔柔的的爸媽從來沒當過國王與皇后。自從來了英國以後(尤其是我經常在溫莎古堡前啃冷三明治當午餐)，對皇室的新聞多少就有一些接觸，也因此讓我的他們多了一分尊重和同情，因為皇室的生活真的不是普通人可以過的，與其說是”從此過著幸福快樂的日子”，不如說是一場永遠不會結束的楚門秀來得貼切一點。
最近看的一本書叫”不平凡的讀者”(The Uncommon Reader)，講的就是女皇怎樣愛上閱讀，但是這樣平凡的興趣都要被身邊的人百般阻撓，因為女皇一但有了偏好，就不能對天下百姓一視同仁了，於是一場沉默的戰爭變在女皇與侍衛總管之間展開：平常會開到白金漢宮附近的移動圖書館突然被取消路線；女皇的閱讀秘書無故被遣散；大多的事情都不在女皇的掌握之中，女皇只好憑智慧來接招。
這是一本輕鬆好笑的小品，作者是有名的舞台劇編劇，所以在對白設計上偶爾有些Catch Line會讓人會心一笑，但是我(這個這麼嚴肅的人)同時也看到一些身為國君的悲哀。下面抄的這一段就是讓我聯想到楚門秀的一段。
(前面講女皇因為愛看書而讓伺候她的車隊不耐煩) Her husband, though, had no such solace and the equerries in particular were becoming increasingly restive and critical. Urbane and exquisitely mannered though he is, the equerry is essentially only a stage manager; always aware when defence is due he (or occasionally she) knows, too, that this is a performance and he is in charge of it, with Her Majesty playing the leading role.
The audience or the spectators – and where the Queen is concerned everybody is a spectator – know that it is a performance, while liking to tell themselves it isn’t, quite, and to think, performance notwithstanding, they have occasionally caught a glimpse of behaviour that is more “natural”, more “real” – the odd overheard remark, for instance (“I could murder a gin and tonic” from the late Queen Mother, “Bloody dogs” from the Duke of Edinburgh), or the Queen sitting down at a garden party and thankfully kicking off her shoes. In truth, of cause, these supposedly unguarded moments are just as much a performance as the royal family at its most hieratic. This show, or sideshow, might be called playing at being normal and is as contrive as those who witness or overhear it think that this is the Queen and her family at their normal human and natural. Formally or informally it is all part of the self-presentation in which the equerries collaborate and which, these apparently impromptu moments apart, is from the public’s point of view virtually seamless.