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Britain's Queen Elizabeth stands with Microsoft chairman
and philanthropist Bill Gates after presenting him with an
honorary knighthood at Buckingham Palace, London, March 2,
2005. (REUTERS/Chris
Young/Pool) | |
Sir Bill? Not quite. Proclaiming himself "humbled and delighted,"
Microsoft founder Bill Gates received an honorary knighthood Wednesday
from Queen Elizabeth II - an accolade that allows the recipient
to use "KBE" after his name, but not to put "Sir" in front of it.
One of the world's richest men, Gates, 49, was being honored for his
charitable activities around the world and his contribution to enterprise
in Britain.
Past recipients of the honorary knighthood range from Irish singer Bob
Geldof to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
"This honor is particularly poignant given the deep connections
Microsoft enjoys with the United Kingdom," said Gates, whose company
employs about 2,000 people in Britain.
Gates' royal honor - bestowed by the queen on the advice of the
government - was announced in January 2004, but a "mutually convenient"
date to receive it had not been available until now.
British recipients of
knighthoods are entitled to be addressed with a "Sir" before their names.
The honor was long the preserve of senior soldiers, judges and other
servants of the state, but recent years have seen the creation of Sir Paul
McCartney, Sir Mick Jagger and Sir Elton John.
As an American, Gates is not entitled to use "Sir" before his name, but
he can put the initials KBE - Knight Commander of the British Empire -
after his name.
Gates joins a roster of
American knights that includes former presidents Reagan and George H.W.
Bush, comedian Bob Hope, retired U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks and former
Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Gates said he was proud of what he called Microsoft's "special
relationship" with Britain.
"The U.K. was the first country in which Microsoft set up a subsidiary
outside the U.S., and our experience in the U.K. has been significant in
shaping our international growth," he said.
Microsoft's British facilities include Research Cambridge, a laboratory
established in 1997 in the university town that employs 80 scientists. In
2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a donation of $210
million to Cambridge University to create a scholarship program for
graduate students from outside Britain.
(BBC) |
比爾爵士？這一說(shuō)法并不確切。本周三（3月2日），微軟開(kāi)山鼻祖比爾·蓋茨“誠(chéng)惶誠(chéng)恐”又“高高興興”地接受了英女王伊莉莎白二世授予他的爵級(jí)司令勛章，這一稱號(hào)允許受封者把“大英帝國(guó)司令勛章爵士”頭銜的縮寫(xiě)形式KBE加在自己的名字后面，但名字前面并不能加上“爵士”字樣。
49歲的蓋茨是世界上最富有的人之一，他因在世界范圍內(nèi)的慈善捐贈(zèng)和對(duì)英國(guó)企業(yè)做出的貢獻(xiàn)而獲此殊榮。
之前獲得過(guò)同樣榮譽(yù)的還有愛(ài)爾蘭歌星鮑勃·格爾多夫和美國(guó)前總統(tǒng)羅納德·里根。
“微軟公司和英國(guó)的關(guān)系一直都很密切，這次能夠被授予榮譽(yù)勛章我特別感動(dòng)。”蓋茨說(shuō)，他的公司在英國(guó)雇傭了2000名員工。
早在2004年1月，英女王就在英政府的授意下宣布授予蓋茨這一榮譽(yù)稱號(hào)。但是一個(gè)“對(duì)雙方都合適”的受封日期直到現(xiàn)在才確定下來(lái)。
被授予榮譽(yù)爵士身份的英國(guó)人有資格在自己的姓名前面加上“爵士”字樣。這一榮譽(yù)長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)只能授予高級(jí)軍人、法官和其他國(guó)家公務(wù)員，但近年來(lái)也出現(xiàn)了保羅·麥卡尼爵士（披頭士成員），米克·賈格爾爵士（滾石樂(lè)隊(duì)的主唱）和埃爾頓·約翰爵士（流行音樂(lè)大師）。
作為美國(guó)人，蓋茨不能在他的名字前面加上“爵士”字樣，但是他可以在名字后面加上“大英帝國(guó)司令勛章爵士”頭銜的縮寫(xiě)形式KBE 。
至此，蓋茨成了美籍爵士花名冊(cè)上的一員，他的“同僚”還包括美國(guó)前總統(tǒng)里根和喬治·H·W·布什、喜劇演員鮑勃·霍普、美國(guó)退休陸軍上將湯米·弗蘭克斯和美國(guó)前國(guó)務(wù)卿科林·鮑威爾。
蓋茨說(shuō)，他為微軟和英國(guó)之間的“特殊關(guān)系”感到驕傲。
他說(shuō)：“英國(guó)是微軟在美國(guó)本土之外設(shè)立子公司的第一個(gè)國(guó)家。我們?cè)谟?guó)獲得了寶貴的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，這對(duì)構(gòu)筑微軟后來(lái)的跨國(guó)擴(kuò)張是非常重要的。”
微軟在英國(guó)設(shè)立的機(jī)構(gòu)還包括1997年成立的微軟劍橋研究院，該實(shí)驗(yàn)室位于劍橋鎮(zhèn)，共有80位科學(xué)家在那里工作。2000年，比爾和梅林達(dá)·蓋茨基金會(huì)宣布向劍橋大學(xué)捐贈(zèng)2.1億美元，用以創(chuàng)立一個(gè)針對(duì)來(lái)自英國(guó)之外的畢業(yè)生的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金項(xiàng)目。
（中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2005-03-04 10:09