The Princess Blog

The "lost princess" trope  is among the most popular when it comes to princess stories, but due to the last decade's rise of princesses as powerful warriors , it's fallen a bit out of fashion. With the decline of princes as love interests  and their lack of opportunities to defend their now stronger female counterparts, there isn't much left for men to do in fantasy movies . That's where the latest Masters of the Universe  movie comes in. Based on the '80s toy line and cartoon franchise , this movie is a throwback to a time when fantasy films were meant to be pure escapism and not about delivering an agenda . Its hero, Adam, takes on a similar role to classic princesses of the past, while his female counterpart, Teela, embodies the stoic warrior role that modern female characters have been relegated to. The movie tells the story of Prince Adam of Eternia, who was sent through a portal to Earth by the Sorceress for his safety after his kingdom was conquere...

I've always loved PattyCake Productions'   high quality princess content . Today, they surprised me with a new video to pay some respect to classic Disney princes . Animated princes have regressed over the years due to a rise in feminism and have returned to their roles as mere accessories to the princesses. There was a period of time during the Disney Renaissance in which the male leads in Disney movies expanded their roles to fully developed characters equivalent to the princesses themselves. However, in the live-action remake era , Disney has been pushing the trope of princesses saving themselves, causing them to even outshine the male leads in their own movies  on occasion. This shift has taken us back to the classic Disney Princess era , in which the princes played very small roles. The music video, which was released today, is called "Charming,"  not to be confused with a subpar 2018 animated film of the same name . It focuses on the three golden age princes: T...

It's no secret that modern anime tends to be derivative. Almost every new animated show from the East tells the story of a character reincarnated  into another world or a younger version of themselves. However, another trope, specifically among anime about royalty, has dominated the airwaves. Nearly every would-be anime princess in recent years begins her story with a broken engagement to a prince. This was the catalyst of everything from 2023's I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness  to last year's 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy and The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor . This season, a brand new show entitled I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons  follows in their footsteps. The series begins with a noble lady named Leticia forced into an arranged marriage with Prince Clarke. To prepare her for her future as a princess, her parents send her to the castle for private finish...

Princess Knight  was referred to me as the anime that started the "shoujo" (girl-oriented) genre in Japan. That seems like a pretty big claim considering how immensely popular that genre has been over the years and the fact that I've never heard of this show. It came out in 1967, which was well before anime became popular in America. Upon watching it, I found it contained many similarities to one of my favorite anime series, Revolutionary Girl Utena . I thought Utena was pretty progressive for a '90s series, but I had no idea something similar had already been done all the way back in the '60s and had likely inspired it. By today's standards, Princess Knight would probably be considered transgender or queer  even though she has a male love interest. The show begins with an in-depth explanation of why she feels obligated to pretend she's a boy. As the daughter of a queen and king, she has a responsibility to inherit the kingdom of Silverland, whose law stat...

This is one of four bonus chapters I am including in my digital box set for The Stolen Trilogy  that was released yesterday on Amazon. It takes place around the middle of my book The Stolen Jewel  and is about Princess Charlotte's love interest, Prince Braydon, and Lily's love interest from The Stolen Queen , Lord Henry, having a fencing match. I did the teeniest bit of research for it, so some of the details may be off. If you enjoyed this chapter, you can purchase The Stolen Jewel  on Amazon to read the book it came from or The Stolen Queen  to read the sequel about Lily and Henry. You can also sign up for my mailing list to read about my other books and learn more about future projects. "The Duel"             Growing up surrounded by the women in his family, Henry felt that it was his responsibility to protect them from potential threats. Now that there were two threats living under the same roof as them, he ...

After I shared my post about Hallmark princesses , I went ahead and watched every Hallmark movie I could find that involved royalty. Let me tell you;  there are a lot . Sitting through one low-budget romcom after another, I found that the overwhelming majority of them have the exact same plot. A quirky American career woman falls in love with a mysterious stranger who turns out to be a prince from some obscure nation. She goes to live with him at the castle, finds that she doesn't fit in, runs away, and eventually, the prince comes back to her and proposes. At first glance, these movies appear to be attempts at modernized versions of "Cinderella,"  but upon closer inspection, they are vastly different. The protagonists in these romcoms are not being oppressed by abusive family members, nor are they living in a time period where the only way for a woman to get ahead in the world is by marriage. In fact, most of these women are doing just fine long before the dashing love ...

Aya Ling  recently released  The Cursed Prince , the third and final book in her Reversed Retellings series. Of the three fairy tales that she covered, I think the "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale lends itself to gender-reversal the best without changing the themes of the original story because the roles of the protagonists have are not affected by their physical strength or conventional beauty stereotypes. Till Midnight , the first book in the Reversed Retellings series, changed the plot of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" by requiring the princes to battle trolls at night instead of dance at a ball, which made them more conventionally masculine. In  The Beast and the Beauty , Lady Sybil attempted to use magic, fashion, and makeup to make herself look more presentable to suitors in spite of her monstrous appearance, which are conventionally feminine things that we never saw the Beast do in "Beauty and the Beast." In contrast, the main character in "Sleep...

There are precious few video games that allow you to play as a princess  who does something other than dress up or recover the royal jewels. Until recently, Child of Light was the only game I knew of for modern consoles that fit those criteria. That's why I was eager to play The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince when it went on sale in the PlayStation Store . Its storybook illustration aesthetic and sidescrolling gameplay look so similar to Child of Light that I mistakenly thought it was made by the same people at first. Once I actually started playing, it became clear that The Liar Princess has a much smaller budget and a more linear world. Instead of the colorful cast and robust battle command menus from Child of Light, The Liar Princess's story is told entirely by a single Japanese narrator accompanied by cutscenes of an illustrated storybook that depicting the story. I completed the entire game in a single evening, which made me question its $20 price tag. Story-wis...

There may not be a new Disney Princess this year, but that doesn't mean Disney isn't prepared for it. Since 2019 is odd-number year, there's going to be another D23 Expo  this summer, but that's not the only princess-related thing happening in the upcoming months. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Disney's The Little Mermaid , and we can expect Disney to celebrate it in a big way, just like they did for  Snow White's 80th anniversary  back 2017. Like most princess movies , the Ariel's official anniversary isn't technically until November, but Disney tends to stretch out celebrations throughout the whole year year. The Little Mermaid  Anniversary Edition Blu-ray is coming out next month. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll even get that live TV special we were promised a while back. Between that, the upcoming Aladdin  remake , the new Dashing Collection  for the Disney Store, and Disney's exclusive streaming service , 2019 is shaping up to be ...

The Stolen Jewel: Prince Braydon Prince Braydon glared at a mountain of letters on his desk. Most of them were from wishful noble ladies who were desperate for his courtship in order to raise their status. It wasn't easy being the most eligible prince in the land. Many others would envy him to have such an admirable problem, but he knew better. There was far more to life than making women swoon and throw themselves at his feet. He was far more interested in learning to run a kingdom. His father had some unique ideas about being king. Even though Braydon did not agree with all of them, he found their discussions fascinating. "Finished sorting through your mail already?" asked King Mercer as his son cautiously entered the throne room. Braydon never knew what sort of mood his father might be in. "Why must read I them all? Most of these ladies are so vapid, writing about their hair and clothes and showering me with empty compliments about my appearance. I...

Today is a very special day for me. It's the one year anniversary of the day I married my true love. My wedding was truly magical and made me feel like a princess because I was surrounded by all the people I love. Love is an important theme in princess stories. Even though they have shifted direction somewhat in recent years, it is still very much relevant to the princess genre. In fact, love is probably the biggest defining factor of a princess story. It is what gives them their strength against the bad guys and what ultimately allows them to achieve their goals. Of course, I'm not just talking about romantic love. Many people take issue with the unconscious kiss in "Sleeping Beauty" that gives the cursed princess new life. Though that particular act itself may be problematic due to issues of consent, it is still significant because it represents a universal idea--Love will set you free. Of course, that doesn't mean that everyone must fall in love and get m...

"The Mountain and the Knight" Once upon a time, there was a brave prince who loved to be challenged. He had slain dragons, rescued damsels, and defeated witches. Legends of his achievements had spread far and wide. One day, the prince heard rumors of a mountain that was so perilous, no man had ever climbed it and lived to tell the tale. Soon, the prince was filled with determination to climb the fabled mountain and return to spread hope to his people that anything is possible. The king and queen advised him against this, for he was the only heir to the throne. They warned him that if he shared the same fate as the others who climbed the mountain, the kingdom would one day be left without a ruler. The prince was so confident in his abilities that he ignored their warnings and snuck off to the mountain in the middle of the night when his guards were asleep. The path up the mountain was indeed perilous, full of monsters and traps. One wrong step and the brave prince would...