心は若く…９５歳のエリザベス女王、高齢者たたえる賞を辞退

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英高齢者向け月刊誌「オールディー」は１９日、エリザベス女王９５）が自らは受賞基準を満たさないとして、同誌が高齢者をたたえて贈る賞を辞退したと発表した。（写真は英国のエリザベス女王）
　同賞は４月に亡くなった女王の夫フィリップ殿下や、女王の母も受賞している。
　オールディー誌は７月、英王室に書簡を送り、女王の受賞の意思を尋ねた。しかし、スコットランドのバルモラル城から８月２１日付で届いた返信では、女王の私設秘書であるトム・レイングベーカー氏が女王の辞退を次のような言葉とともに伝えた。
　「女王陛下は、人の年の取り方はその人の気持ち次第だと考えています。それゆえ、女王はこの賞を受けるにふさわしい基準を自分が満たしているとは考えず、よりふさわしい受賞者が見つかるよう願っています」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/10/21-14:07）

Queen Elizabeth II turned down a prize celebrating the elderly, assessing that at 95 she did not meet the criteria, The Oldie magazine said Tuesday.
The publication wrote to palace officials in July to ask if she would accept its Oldie of the Year award, which was previously given to her late husband and her own mother.
But in a reply dated August 21 from her Balmoral estate in northeast Scotland, the monarch's assistant private secretary, Tom Laing-Baker, made his boss' apologies.
Her Majesty believes you are as old as you feel, as such The Queen does not believe she meets the relevant criteria to be able to accept, and hopes you will find a more worthy recipient, he added.
The tongue-in-cheek award, which celebrates the achievements of older people, went to the French-American actress and dancer Leslie Caron -- who is 90.
The Queen succeeded her father king George VI in 1952 and next year celebrates her Platinum Jubilee to mark 70 years on the throne but she has played down her longevity.
When she became Britain's longest-reigning monarch in September 2015, she treated the day like any other, opening a new railway in the Scottish border region with England.
Inevitably, a long life can pass many milestones; my own is no exception, she said at the time.
Despite her husband Prince Philip's death in April aged 99, and her advanced age, the Queen has not retired from public life, and maintains a regular diary of audiences and appearances.
Last week she was seen for the first time in public using a walking stick.
But on Tuesday, she held two audiences via videolink with the Japanese and EU ambassador, and was scheduled to host a reception for international business and investment leaders.
The writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, who was a friend of the Prince, wrote in The Oldie that he was delighted to receive the award in 2011.
There is nothing like it for morale to be reminded that the years are passing -- ever more quickly -- and that bits are beginning to drop off the ancient frame, he replied.
But it is nice to be remembered at all.