To Be a Princess

By Hugh Brewster and Laurie Coulter

Reviewed by Elaine Williams

 

This past Halloween, you probably saw at least one princess at your door. Little girls have always loved dressing up as princesses, pretending they live in castles and are married to handsome princes.  These romantic ideas are true to a point, but more often, the pretty dresses, castles, and princes do not bring happiness ever after.  To Be a Princess is subtitled "the fascinating lives of real princesses," and if I learned one thing from this book, it is that a princess leads anything but a fairytale life.

      To Be a Princess covers the history of twelve princesses, beginning with Mary Tudor of England (later known as "Bloody Mary" for her persecution of Protestants), and ending with the princess who became the current queen of England, Elizabeth II, and her late sister Princess Margaret.  Royal daughters of Austria, Hawaii, Russia, and India are also profiled here.  Some of these girls became queens, while others saw a sibling or other relative ascend the throne instead.

      Many of the girls lived during violent times.  Tsar Nicholas' four daughters were executed along with the rest of the family during the Bolshevik revolution. Elizabeth and Margaret of England were kept at Windsor Castle for five years while the Germans bombed London during World War II.  Sadly, for some of the princesses, violence came from within their own families.  Henry VIII had his eldest daughter Mary banished from his court and reduced her to rags while he sought a new heir with his mistress Anne Boleyn, whom he later had beheaded.  This same Mary imprisoned her half sister Elizabeth (the new heir) in the Tower of London.  The people of France disliked Marie Antoinette, an Austrian princess, when she married a French prince and eventually became queen. Both she and the king were executed by popular demand during the French Revolution.

      Only a few of the princesses whose lives are explored here were able to choose their own husbands.  Marie Antoinette thought her father's choice was very homely.  Margaret was told that if she married Peter Townsend, she would have to renounce her royal title and any future right to the crown.  Mary Tudor was betrothed to one European child-prince after another in her father's quest for allies.  However, some princesses did make happy marriages, such as Victoria and Prince Albert and Princess Ayesha of India, who married the maharaja of Jaipier.

      To Be a Princess is neither a dry, colorless history text nor a gossipy tell-all about "the royals."  It is as fascinating as the subtitle suggests, with elegant illustrations and photographs of the princesses. Also included are timelines, a glossary of terms, and a short epilogue about modern princesses who do charitable work or are involved in Olympic sports.  Fans of Princess Diana should know that she is only mentioned in passing and is not included because she was not born into the royal family.  I would love to see a follow-up volume by these authors on the lives of royal princes, some of whom would become king.

 

 

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