It's no coincidence that she's been spending more and more time with her grandson Prince William, or that his duties — such as making a historic visit to Israel and the West Bank earlier this year — are expanding.
女王越来越多地和她的孙子呆在一起，或者是陪其履行皇室义务——例如今年早些对以色列以及约旦河西岸的历史性访问，这并非偶然。

But the Queen has no desire to push aside her son and heir.
但女王无意架空她的继承人们。

Indeed, she has been meeting Prince Charles regularly in private for some time to discuss matters of state.
她会定期与查尔斯王子进行私人会面，商讨国事。

No private secretaries or royal aides of any description are ever present. It's always just the two of them — and they both view these meetings as crucial for both the smooth running of the country and the eventual succession.
当时没有任何外人在场，他们认为这场会面对于国家的运行和子嗣传承至关重要。

Some close to the monarch say that, if she reaches the age of 95, she will make a monumental decision and choose to officially allow Charles to take over the stewardship of her reign.
知情人士透露，到女王95岁时，她将做出一个历史性的决策，并正式同意查尔斯接替其王位。

She will, they say, officially transfer all executive powers to him as Prince Regent until her death, when he will become king. This would enable her to fudge the issue of her not fulfilling her Coronation Oath to God and her people to serve as queen regnant until her death.
他们说，查尔斯将以“太子摄政王”的头衔接受女王传下的权力，这个头衔将伴其直至女王去世，届时他将正式成为国王。这可以让女王避免其未尽其职的尴尬。

Others, who claim to be equally well informed, say that such a move or use of the 'Regent' title is not really necessary.
其他得到消息的人称，“摄政王”这一头衔并非完全必要。

Times, however, do change. In truth, with the Queen now well into her tenth decade, senior officials within the Royal Household confirm that Prince Charles is effectively already our 'Prince Regent', a king in all but name.
然而时代不同了。事实上，随着女王开始其第十个任期，白金汉宫高层们都承认查尔斯王子已经是“太子摄政王”了，除了名分，他已经是个国王了。

Nobody has a crystal ball. But my knowledge of the monarchal system leads me to believe that, whatever happens, it will unfold naturally. It is clear, however, that Charles's position as the driving force of the institution in the second decade of the 21st century, as he approaches his 70th birthday, is indisputable. He, not the Queen, is the firm hand on the tiller.
没人能预测接下来发生什么事。但据我对皇家了解，所有事都会自然而然地发生。然而，查尔斯在21世纪的第二个十年中对皇室所起的推动作用随着他70岁生日的到来，是毋庸置疑的。他才是真正的掌舵人,而非女。

In the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana, many long-serving staff at Buckingham Palace believed the public would never tolerate Charles becoming king.
戴安娜王妃死后，许多在白金汉宫长期服务的人深信公众不会同意让查尔斯登上王位的。

Since then, however, anger against Charles has subsided.
然而，之后公众对查尔斯的愤怒已经消失殆尽了。

Through hard work and consistency, and perhaps the popularity of his sons and their wives — and the goodwill they have generated — such fears have all but disappeared.
靠着努力工作以及儿子儿媳们的出色表现——他们在公众之中产生了良好声誉——公众的恐惧已消失殆尽。

He may still be blamed for Diana's misery over his infidelity with Camilla Parker Bowles, but there's no longer a groundswell of support for skipping a generation.
可能人们还会因戴安娜的死而归罪于他的出轨，但已经鲜有人提及让他的儿子而非他本人继位。

（翻译：进击的Meredith）