Do you love a good Cinderella story? Do you stop to read magazines at the check-out if they feature Prince Harry on the cover? Have you followed Kate Middleton’s path from college student to mother of the future king of England? Most people are intrigued by stories of girls becoming princesses. Perhaps it’s the idea of transformation — the butterfly syndrome — or perhaps it’s purely the allure of a sparkly tiara but a good ‘becoming a princess’ story always has appeal.
Think Meg Cabot’s series of novels ‘The Princess Diaries’ and the movies of the same name starring Anne Hathaway. Think Julia Stiles in the movie ‘The Prince and Me’ or fairytales such as Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. The plot line usually concerns either a princess who doesn’t know she’s a princess or an ordinary girl who becomes a princess. Either way, the story will involve a lot of inner and sometimes outer change, obstacles in the form of antagonists who don’t want them to become royal and sometimes a fairy godmother like figure who helps them find themselves e.g.. the Julie Andrews character in ‘The Princess Diaries’.
If you’re looking for a new princess story idea, the ‘becoming a princess’ story archetype could be the one for you.
THEN if you want your heroine to be more than a Hollywood Princess (that is, do more than marry Prince Charming or be a princess by an accident of birth) invent a story where she has to prove herself. Perhaps she is proclaimed princess for saving her country from invasion, or killing a dragon or ridding her city of an evil wizard. The possibilities are endless.